China buys Colombian oil as global glut deepens

An oil tanker unloads imported crude oil at the Shihua crude oil wharf in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province. China consumed the second-biggest amount of crude on record in September and imported the largest volume ever for that time of year. Yao Feng / For China Daily

China is finding oil supplies 14,000 miles (22,530 kilometers) away, aided by the global fall in prices that has left producers vying for new markets.

PetroChina Co said it has bought Colombian crude for a northern refinery for the first time because it was good value, in a transaction which underscores how the world's second-biggest oil consumer is benefiting as producers from the Middle East to Latin America vie for customers in Asia.

Brent oil futures tumbled to the lowest level since 2010 as the highest US output in almost 30 years cuts its consumption of foreign crude. The biggest producers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are reducing prices to defend their market share.

China consumed the second-biggest amount of crude on record in September and imported the largest volume ever for that time of year, customs data show.

"China will just look to get the cheapest crude possible from whatever source it can," said Virendra Chauhan, a London-based analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd.

"I expect lots more volumes flowing to China in particular."

The country's crude imports rose 7.8 percent to 27.6 metric million tons, or 6.74 million barrels a day, in September from last year, the data show.

The number of supertankers sailing to China's ports surged to a nine-month high last week, according to IHS Fairplay vessel-tracking signals compiled by Bloomberg as of Oct 17.

Between January and September, China's purchases of Colombian crude totaled 7.8 million tons, more than twice the amount the year earlier, customs data showed. Shipments from Saudi Arabia, its biggest supplier, shrank about 11 percent to 36.6 million tons, according to the data.