Summary:
The crude oil price remained steady during August at around $68 a barrel, falling to about $62 briefly towards the end of the month, but bouncing back up quickly. This effect had an 8% positive Demand growth, month on month, for the tanker fleet. Crude oil grew by 11%, which is 10% above this time last year. Oil products grew a further 4%, which is a staggering 38% above August last year. LNG is still going strong at 2% higher growth, which is 12% higher than last year. LPG had a fall of 12% in August, but it’s still 4% higher than this time last year.
China imported 37.2 million tonnes of crude in August. This is the highest volume since March. India imported 17.5 million, which is their highest volume this year. Saudi Arabia and Iraq were the two countries that provided the extra crude into the market. Saudi Arabia grew from 24.3 million tonnes to 27.5 million tons.
Oil products volumes are creeping ever higher. The main noticeable gain this time is in jet fuel, up at 7 million tons in August, which is way above 4 million tons this time last year. Gas oil, gasoline and fuel oil remain at strong, robust levels.