沙特4月将向美国每天出售60万桶石油

据世界石油网站4月18日消息 据一位熟悉美国炼油企业分配情况的沙特行业官员透露，沙特将于4月份向美国每天出售约60万桶原油，创下一年来的最高水平。

在沙特本月将日产量提高至创纪录的1230万桶之际，与炼油商达成了上述协议，而此时美国需求正因为减缓疫情而实施的封锁而大幅下降。

今年5月，国营的沙特石油公司表示，作为与俄罗斯和其他主要产油国达成的欧佩克+协议的一部分，该公司将把日产量削减至850万桶。同一位官员表示，该公司5月份对美国炼油企业的拨款尚未完成，但已经降低了折扣幅度，这可能会引发一些炼油企业减少订单。

5月份交付美国的阿拉伯轻质原油价格比Argus含硫原油指数低75美分/桶，而4月份为3.75美元。

分配通常密切追踪每月的实际发货量，尽管有时有些油轮会在不同月份装货，因为运力影响可能会有一定时期的减少。

据彭博社编制的油轮跟踪数据显示，4月份的前几天，阿美石油似乎已经提前装运了部分货物到美国。在本月的前7天，阿美石油公司装载了7艘超大型原油运输船，每艘能运载200万桶原油，并向美国发出了最终目的地的信号。然而，从那时起，阿美石油公司只装载了两艘油轮。

随着美国公布近乎实时的定制数据信息，交易员可以知道石油何时到达，沙特原油流入美国的情况受到密切关注。美国还每周公布石油库存数据，更多沙特原油流入美国可能有助于增加库存。

根据美国能源情报署提供的最新月度数据，今年1月，美国每天从沙特阿拉伯进口40.1万桶原油。

吴恒磊 编译自 世界石油

原文如下：

Saudis to sell 600,000 bbl of oil a day to the U.S. in April

Saudi Arabia is set to sell about 600,000 barrels a day of crude to the U.S. in April, the highest volume in a year, according to a Saudi industry official familiar with allocations to American refiners.

The shipments, agreed with refiners as Saudi Arabia ramped up production to a record 12.3 million barrels a day this month, come at a moment when U.S. demand is sharply down due to lockdowns to slow the Covid-19 pandemic.

For May, state-run Saudi Arabian Oil Co. has said it will cut output to 8.5 million barrels a day as part of the OPEC+ agreement with Russia and other major producers. Its May allocations for U.S. refiners haven’t yet been completed, but it has already reduced the size of the discounts it’s offering, which is likely to trigger some refiners to reduce their orders, the same official said.

Arab Light crude for May deliveries to the U.S. was priced at a discount of 75 cents per barrel to the Argus Sour Crude Index, compared with $3.75 in April.

The allocations usually track actual monthly shipments closely, although occasionally some tankers are loaded in a different month as operations may slip a few days.

Aramco appears to have front-loaded some of its shipments to the U.S. during the first days of April, according to tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. In the first seven days of the month, Aramco loaded 7 very large crude-carriers that are capable of carrying two million barrels each and are signaling the U.S. as a final destination. Since then, however, Aramco has loaded only two more tankers.

The flows of Saudi crude into the U.S. are closely watched as America publishes near real-time custom data information that allows traders to know when the oil is arriving. The U.S. also publishes weekly data on oil inventories, and more Saudi crude into the U.S. may contribute to higher stockpiles.

The U.S. imported 401,000 barrels a day of crude from Saudi Arabia in January, according to the latest monthly data available from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.