Crude oil futures prices in Asian trading hours Wednesday surged higher as benchmarks posted fresh three-month highs after a key port in China banned US-sanctioned tankers.
A news report from Quantum Commodity Intelligence, an industry-focused online platform, reflected that in the early hours of the day, front-month Mar25 ICE Brent futures were trading at $77.40/b compared to Tuesday’s $77.05/b, while the Mar25/Apr25 was nearing $0.70/b.
Also, the report indicated that Feb25 NYMEX WTI was trading at $74.68/b, compared to the previous day’s $74.25/b trading price
On Tuesday, China’s Shandong Port Group informed vessel operators that US-sanctioned oil tankers were barred from docking, unloading, or receiving services at its key terminals, particularly Qingdao, Rizhao, and Yantai ports, which are critical for importing discounted crude from Iran and Russia.
According to shipping brokerage Clarksons, Shandong handles around 3.5 million bpd of crude, with 1 million bpd sourced from Iran.
Analysts noted that the move potentially would leave significant volumes of Russian and Iranian crude un-exported, with limited capacity at alternative locations willing to take sanctioned tankers.
In a related report, Bloomberg calculated Russia’s crude production in December dipped below its OPEC+ quota, producing 8.971 million bpd in December 2024 even as Arctic blasts in the US and Europe also continued to underpin heating demand, with the cold snaps expected to last till this month.
This is even as the American Petroleum Institute calculated that crude inventories dipped by 4 million barrels last week, although the drop was offset by large build in refined products.
