SINGAPORE/BEIJING — China is set to embrace Canada’s offer of more crude, heating up competition with the United States as the world’s top two oil consumers jostle to secure supplies and meet ravenous demand.
Shipments from a politically stable country such as Canada will be a welcome diversification of supply sources as top consumers make plans to deal with a supply shock if tensions in the Middle East escalate and choke off Iranian exports, barely a year after markets coped with a disruption from Libya.
“There is no oil that we can’t process,” an official at Sinopec, Asia’s largest refiner, said, declining to be identified as he is not authorised to talk to the media. “With 30 refineries, there will be some that can use Canadian crude.”
China is an ideal client for Canada in Asia as it has the ability to process a wide range of crude and its appetite continues to grow. The Canadian heavy sour grade, which will be shipped to Asia, has API gravity of 19-22 degrees and contains around 3% sulphur. Most Asian refineries process crude of 30 degrees API.
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One is given to wonder if Stephen Harper and his government are in fact willing to walk the walk, or if his human rights statement was simple rhetoric for his base.
SL And now…today’s life lesson:
You have learned that pleasing everyone is impossible,but pissing everyone off is a piece of cake.
Hey the other pete, if Harpers “walking the walk” is really “talking about the walk” when the cameras are pointed in his direction he should expect people like me to point that out.
For those who don’t appreciate that… }}}shrug{{{
Harper? The same Harper who belonged to that pro-Apartheid Northern Foundation group?
The U.S.administration’s indebtedness to China is likely behind the Keystone XL pipeline delay. If Canada goes the necessary pragmatic route in needing to find markets with attendant ‘contracts’ that have to be honoured, how will this affect America’s future contracts with Canada? Nebraska has apparently re-routed the projected pipeline’s location meaning the business post election will get done. Also hopefully meaning the U.S. will get exclusive access to Canada’s ‘ethical oil.’
Reportedly with the Bakken oil fields in full production mode, America’s now 70 percent oil independent.
The main question now is what’s Canada’s oil contract with China involve in terms of market commitment?? Can it be rescinded once the U.S. makes its claims on a reliable Canadian resource??