PetroChina in first direct sale to US

biz.scmp.com Thursday, February 6, 2003 REUTERS in Singapore    PetroChina has made its first direct petrol sale to the United States' Gulf Coast, taking advantage of a squeeze in US supplies due to a drop in exports from strike-bound Venezuela, traders said yesterday.

The top Chinese oil firm had fixed a 40,000-tonne parcel of 90-octane petroleum, for loading early this month, from the northeast Chinese port of Dalian to the US Gulf, they said.

"Chinese barrels normally move to the US via traders or majors when the arbitrage window is open, but this is the first time PetroChina has sold gasoline on a delivered basis," a trader said.

She said the cargo had been sold to an oil major, but declined to give details.

PetroChina, China's second-largest refiner, accounts for about 40 per cent of China's total petroleum exports, which amounted to 51.7 million barrels last year.

Asia-based traders expect the strong US market to draw fresh shipments of Asian petroleum this month, following a slew of US-bound cargoes last month from China, South Korea and Singapore.

A two-month general strike in Venezuela has severely disrupted overseas oil sales from the world's fifth-biggest exporter, which supplies about 13 per cent of US oil imports.

The disruption has eaten into US fuel stocks, pushing up benchmark oil prices in the process.