From Bloomberg
Even in a world awash with crude, buyers in the world’s biggest oil market can’t seem to escape their addiction to Middle East supplies.
South Korea’s imports from the Middle East climbed last year to the highest level since at least 1980, while refiners in India say they are shunning shipments from distant ports and taking more cargoes from the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia and Oman have boosted supplies to China this year as volumes from Venezuela and Colombia to Asia’s biggest crude consumer have shrunk.
While the Middle East provides more than 50 percent of Asia’s requirements because of its proximity, buyers in the world’s biggest oil-consuming region are seeking to end that dependence and guard against geopolitical risks. Still, even though the global glut has attracted cargoes from Mexico to the North Sea and Alaska, processors say cargoes from the Persian Gulf are irresistible because of shorter shipping times, attractive prices and the promise of crude whose quality refineries are used to.
