China’s crude oil imports fall as buying frenzy fades

A police officer keeps watch as a Kuwaiti oil tanker unloads its cargo at Qingdao in China’s eastern Shandong province. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 08 November 2020
Follow

China’s crude oil imports fall as buying frenzy fades

  • Independent refineries exhaust import quotas amid soaring inventory levels

BEIJING: China’s crude oil imports slipped 12.2 percent in October from the previous month as refiners hit the brakes after months of a buying frenzy that had raised crude inventory to a near-full level, and as independent refineries run out of import quotas.

China, the world’s No.1 crude oil importer, bought 42.56 million tons of the resource last month, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Saturday. That is equal to 10 million barrels per day (bpd).

The October imports compared with 11.8 million bpd in September and 10.72 million bpd in October of last year.

Over January-October, China took in a total of 458.56 million tons of crude oil, the data showed, equivalent to 11 million bpd, up 10.6 percent from the same period last year.

Analysts had estimated that China’s implied crude inventories grew by an average 1.7 million bpd over the first three quarters.

Many independent refineries, who account for almost a quarter of China’s total crude oil imports, have nearly used up all import quotas for 2020.

But the tide could be changing.

“Buying interest has shown signs of picking up recently as port congestion has eased further and the government recently issued total import quotas for 2021,” said Chen Jiyao, head of China client advisory at FGE.

China will raise 2021 non-state crude oil import quotas by 20 percent from the 2020 level to 243 million tons.

Chinese customs also released data showing that the country’s refined oil product exports for October rose 46.6 percent from a month ago to a total of 5.79 million tons.

Natural gas imports, including piped and liquefied natural gas, were 7.53 million tons in October, up 15.5 percent from a year earlier.

State-backed energy giants had predicted China’s gas demand to grow about 10 percent this winter.


Real Estate Registry signs 10 agreements at forum in Riyadh

Updated 50 min 48 sec ago
Follow

Real Estate Registry signs 10 agreements at forum in Riyadh

RIYADH: The Real Estate Registry concluded its participation in the Real Estate Future 2026, as a partner of the forum, with a distinguished presence that included the launch of its business portal, the signing of 10 agreements and memoranda of understanding with entities from the public and private sectors, the organization of specialized workshops, and the awarding of the Gold Award at the Real Estate Excellence Awards.

During his participation in the forum, the CEO of the firm, Mohammed Al-Sulaiman, reviewed the latest developments in real estate registration in the Kingdom in a keynote speech, highlighting the pivotal role of the Real Estate Registry in building a unified and reliable system for data. He also announced the launch of the national blockchain infrastructure, which aims to enable the microcoding of real estate assets, enhance transparency, expand investment opportunities, and support innovative ownership models within a reliable regulatory framework.

On the sidelines of the forum, Al-Sulaiman met with Nigeria’s Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa. During the meeting, they discussed areas of joint cooperation, exchanged experiences and advice on shaping the future of the real estate sector, and reviewed best practices in implementing real estate registration systems that enhance reliability and improve the efficiency of property registration.
efficiency of property registration systems.

The Real Estate Registry’s participation included organizing three specialized workshops that focused on the role of geospatial technologies in identifying ownership, enhancing transparency, and improving the quality of real estate data. 

The workshop “Empowering the Real Estate Registry for the Business Sector” reviewed digital solutions that enable the business sector to manage its real estate assets more efficiently and enhance governance and technical integration. The workshop “From Off-Plan Sales to Title Deed” focused on the journey of documenting real estate ownership and the role of the registry in linking the stages of development and documentation within an integrated digital system.

On the sidelines of the forum, the Real Estate Registry signed 10 agreements and memorandums of understanding, including a deal with Yasmina Information Technology Co. to utilize real estate data in developing smarter insurance solutions that support the real estate sector and enhance service reliability. 

Partnerships were also signed with Haseel, NewTech, and Sahl, as well as HissaTech and Droub, to develop innovative digital solutions in property ownership, fractional ownership, and asset tokenization, as well as real estate finance and investment within a trusted regulatory framework.

Further collaborations included an MoU with ROSHN Group, an agreement with the Saudi Water Authority to enable data integration and quality enhancement, an agreement with the Saudi National Bank, and a partnership with Saudi Post to link the national address with the property registry as a unified geospatial identifier supporting data accuracy and integration.

The registry’s participation was crowned with the Golden Award at the Real Estate Excellence Awards in the category of Excellence in Property Documentation, in recognition of its role in building a model based on transparency, accuracy, and speed, as well as advanced digital technologies and specialized legal expertise, contributing to rights protection and increasing the sector’s attractiveness.

The Real Estate Registry emphasized that its participation reflects its continued role as a key enabler of the real estate sector, a trusted data source, and an active partner in driving digital transformation, enhancing market efficiency, and building investor and financier confidence, in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 objectives for a fully integrated and sustainable digital real estate ecosystem.