Hot weather in the EU begins to threaten oil refining

Oil prices continue to rise on Friday. The current Brent quote is $86.20 per barrel, WTI oil is trading near $83.60. 

The hot weather in the EU is beginning to threaten oil refining: the Spanish company Repsol reports that some of its refineries will have to limit work due to the heat, and the Polish Orlen says that their refinery can operate at temperatures up to 36 degrees (the current temperature is close to this value). Last year, disruptions due to the weather amounted to about 1 million barrels per day, which is positive news for the price of oil.

The General Administration of Customs of China reported that oil imports in June decreased by 10.8%, amounting to 46.45 million tons (about 340.5 million barrels). China's total imports decreased by 2.3%, while exports increased by 8.6%. 

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia plans to restore oil supplies to China. In 2023, Russia supplied 107.02 million tons of oil to China, and Saudi Arabia supplied about 86 million tons. In June, Saudi Arabia's oil exports fell to 5.6 million barrels per day compared with 6.135 million barrels in May due to an increase in domestic consumption. Saudi Arabia also announced seven new oil and gas fields in Al-Sharqiya and Rub al-Khali, including a reservoir with light Arabian oil and two unconventional oil fields. 

India continues to look for opportunities to create strategic oil reserves, considering leasing storage facilities in Singapore, Japan, South Korea and the UAE. Currently, its own capacities amount to about 5.3 million tons, and additional reservoirs with a total capacity of 6.5 million tons are being built. According to experts, the lease of additional oil storage facilities will help India achieve the IEA criteria for ensuring a level of oil reserves equivalent to at least 90 days of the country's net imports.