China benefiting from a wider choice of suppliers from Venezuela to Nigeria

Asian consumers are benefiting from a wider choice of suppliers offering cheaper crude from Venezuela to Alaska and Nigeria, as the highest US production in almost 30 years cuts American demand. Saudi Arabia reduced prices for oil for Asia to the lowest in almost six years as it aims to maintain market share even as global benchmark prices have dropped about 25 percent from June.

China reduced oil imports from Saudi Arabia even as the world’s largest crude exporter cuts prices to lure Asian customers amid intensifying competition from Colombia to Oman.

Oil deliveries from Saudi Arabia fell 2.7 percent to 4.74 million metric tons last month from a year earlier, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs in Beijing. Shipments from Colombia surged 389.6 percent while Russian deliveries increased by 56.8 percent.

Crude supplies from Colombia cost on average $94.56/bbl last month and Brazilian imports were $95.27, while Saudi shipments were at $102.30/bbl. PetroChina Co.’s Liaohe plant in northern China refined about 30,000 tons of Colombian crude as of October.

State-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co. on October 1 cut prices for all grades and to all regions for November. The Asian price of Arab Light was cut by $1/bbl to a discount of $1.05 to the average of Oman and Dubai crudes.

China Petroleum, Asia’s biggest refiner known as Sinopec, said it completed the expansion of its northern Shijiazhuang plant on September 4, almost doubling the capacity to 8 million tons a year.