Global seaborne crude oil flows rose in March from February, just ahead of the supply increase coming from OPEC+ in April, oil flows tracking data by Bloomberg showed on Wednesday.
Global crude exports averaged 39.92 million barrels per day (bpd) in March, up by 119,000 bpd from February levels, according to the observed shipments tracked by Bloomberg. Flows from Brazil, Canada, and Russia jumped last month from a month earlier, while crude flows from the United States and the North Sea saw large decreases.
Shipments from the world’s top crude exporter, Saudi Arabia, fell by 65,000 bpd to 6.227 million bpd, according to the data compiled by Bloomberg.
Flows from Iraq also dropped by an even larger rate of 144,000 bpd in March, as OPEC’s second-largest producer continues to struggle to keep its production within its quota under the OPEC+ deal.
Brazilian crude shipments surged by 220,000 bpd last month, while Canada’s total oil flows rose by nearly 190,000 bpd, the data showed.
Russian flows rose at all major points of exports, in the Arctic, Pacific, and the Urals blend. Russia’s key buyers – China and India – found workarounds to continue buying Russian crude after the U.S. sanctions on Russian trade and dozens of tankers that upended Russia-to-Asia oil trade earlier this year.
The rise in global shipments of crude comes as the OPEC+ group is opening the taps a little more in April and is set to add 138,000 bpd of production this month.
On April 1, OPEC+ began unwinding the production cuts of 2.2 million bpd that have been in place for more than a year.
Later this week, the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) of the group will meet to review market developments and potentially recommend production levels for May. The alliance will have to decide whether to push forward with further easing of the cuts or pause the increase in supply. Reports suggest OPEC+ would raise May production levels, too.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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