Re: Bencin 200 SIT

China last year passed Japan to become the world's second-largest oil market, after the U.S.

In its monthly Oil Market Report the Paris-based agency revised up its estimate of incremental Chinese oil demand in the first quarter by 180,000 bpd to a record 6.14 million bpd, an 18 percent increase from the same period last year.

Demand is especially strong in rapidly developing countries like China — where second-quarter consumption is expected to rise at a 21 percent annual rate, up from 18.5 percent in the first quarter, according to the IEA.

Iraq hasn't yet repaired a sabotaged pipeline feeding its two offshore oil-export terminals, missing a target set by the country's oil minister this week. The attack has cut Iraqi exports by 600,000 barrels a day, or almost a third.

Saudi Arabia, de-facto leader of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is quietly asking ship brokers for extra tankers in the second half of next month to transport crude to the U.S., according to people in the Persian Gulf shipping business. The extra oil wouldn't reach American shores until late July.

Last week, A.G. Edwards analyst Bruce Lanni calculated that, based on the levels of oil stockpiles, the “fair value” of oil was about $27 a barrel. At current prices, that translates to roughly an added $13 due to terrorism fears.That's the highest level in 10 years