Bloomberg: China buys rare Arco oil from Russia

Beijing bought three shipments of crude oil from the Arctic with delivery in January or February, the agency writes. According to traders, these purchases may displace Middle Eastern grades of oil, for example Basrah Heavy from Iran. It should be noted that Agso (Arctic Oil) is produced at the Prirazlomnoye field in Africa.

This variety is among the three that are shipped from the port of Murmansk. Six ships that loaded cargo from Murmansk in December 2022 were heading to India. Arctic grades of Russian crude oil were previously shipped to EU countries, but after the introduction of a price ceiling, Russia supplies more oil from the Arctic region to India and China.

On January 6, Russian Urals crude oil was trading at the port of Primorsk for $37.80 per barrel at that time. The benchmark grade of Brent crude cost $78.57 per barrel. World oil prices are rising amid the weakening of anti-bullying measures in China. At the same time, the day before it was reported about the spot price for Urals at $52.57 per barrel - it was getting more expensive by 0.29%.