Homeless Urals racks up demurrage fees as China says no to excessive chlorides

摘要

Chinese customs authorities have reportedly told buyers not to accept crude containing>10 ppm organic chlorides,but officials would not confirm the information.Around 0.8-1.OMM mt(5.8-7.3MM bbl)of tainted Urals was said to have been en route to Asia from Europe,but Chinese and Indian buyers that were expected to step up have not done so.Independent Chinese refiner Bora Group bought 140K mt(1MM bbl)of the crude for its facility in Dalian,but the vessel carrying the oil is now on its way to a storage facility near Malacca.Another independent Chinese refiner was expected to buy a shipment of Urals,but a Suezmax had reportedly been carrying this cargo for a month and is now moving back towards Europe,even though no buyer has yet been found.A VLCC was booked to deliver 270K mt(2MM bbl)of Urals to China,but had headed for Singapore instead.Sinopec,however,is expected to receive a VLCC with contaminated Urals on July 12.The purchase had been made before the contamination crisis hit.