Heavy lifting

摘要

Opec liftings last year were the highest since 2008, after a rise in crude demand led by Asia-Pacific refiners. Opec liftings fell slightly last month from a four-year high of 24.5mn b/d in November, but were still almost 800,000 b/d up on a year earlier. Crude throughputs in Asia- Pacific hit record levels in the fourth quarter, boosting eastbound shipments from the Mideast Gulf and west Africa to new highs. Asian refiners bought 1.8mn b/d of west African crude last year, up from 1.6mn b/d in 2011.