美国6月沙特原油进口量接近35年低点

     据美国彭博新闻社6月17日伦敦报道，在今年早些时候向美国大量出口原油以后，沙特时下几乎切断了向美国石油市场供应原油。

    彭博社编制的油轮追踪数据显示，沙特今年6月迄今为止只向美国出口了一船原油货物，相当于大约13.3万桶/天。这大约是4月份平均日出口130万桶原油数量的十分之一，当时沙特在与俄罗斯的短暂价格战中向全球市场大量出口原油。

    据交易商和分析师说，如果原油出口的低速度在6月下半月持续下去，美国对沙特原油的进口可能会降至35年来的最低水平，从而帮助美国原油市场重新平衡。

    咨询公司Energy Aspects的首席石油分析师Amrita Sen说：“沙特原油进入美国市场的数量将会下降，因为沙特国内炼油厂将开始增加开工率，而国内原油产量将继续下降。炼油商将不得不从其他地方进口原油以及减少库存。”

    可以肯定的是，几艘沙特油轮迄今还没有显示它们的最终目的地，所以最终进入美国的原油数量很可能会略高一些。然而，6月至今的趋势是明确的：威胁到美国炼油厂的沙特原油泛滥正在减少。

    沙特石油行业官员私下说，沙特不太可能在6月下半月至7月增加对美国的原油出口。通过削减美国原油出口，沙特可以影响世界上最显眼的石油市场，这是因为美国海关数据允许对货物进行近乎实时的监控。沙特原油进口的减少很可能会减少受到密切关注的美国原油库存，放大价格影响。

    李峻 编译自 彭博社

    原文如下：

After a record April, U.S. imports of Saudi oil near 35-year low in June

After flooding the U.S. with crude earlier this year, Saudi Arabia has all but cut off the taps to the American oil market.

The kingdom has exported just one cargo to the U.S. so far in June, equivalent to about 133,000 barrels a day, tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s about one-tenth of the 1.3 million barrels a day it shipped in April, when Riyadh flooded the global market during a brief price war against Russia.

If the low pace of exports is sustained in the second half of the month, U.S. imports of Saudi crude could drop to the lowest level in 35 years, helping the American crude market re-balance, according to traders and analysts.

“Saudi oil arrivals will fall just as domestic refiners will start raising runs and domestic production continues to decline,” said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultant Energy Aspects Ltd. “U.S. refiners will have to import from elsewhere and run down stocks,” she added.

To be sure, several Saudi tankers haven’t yet indicated their final destinations, so the final tally into the U.S. could be a tad higher. Yet, the trend so far in June is unmistakable: the deluge of Saudi oil that threatened to overwhelm American refiners is dwindling.

Saudi oil industry officials, speaking privately, say the kingdom is unlikely to boost shipments into the U.S. in the second half of the month and into July. By slashing U.S. crude exports, the Saudis can influence the most highly visible oil market in the world as American customs data allow for near real-time monitoring of shipments. Less Saudi petroleum is likely to reduce the closely watched American crude stockpiles, amplifying the price impact.