Saudi Aramco has announced five new crude oil supply agreements (COSA) with Chinese customers that will take the total 2019 China COSA volume to 1.67 million bpd.
Not only is this COSA volume unprecedented for China, but rarely has a single country in Saudi Aramco’s history bought so much oil. The new supply contracts make it likely that Saudi Aramco next year will become China’s largest supplier, a position it also held from 2006 until 2016.
The signing ceremonies at the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai were witnessed by high ranking government and business leaders. Saudi Aramco also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) for an optional 100 000 bpd additional supply, bringing the total signed volume to 723 000 bpd.
A delegation of Saudi Aramco’s Crude Oil Sales and Marking Department (COSMD), led by COSMD manager Ahmed M. Alkhunaini, attended CIIE together with Aramco Asia president Anwar A. Al Hejazi and Beijing office marketing representatives.