China Sets Second-Highest Record For Crude Oil Imports; US Hits Record For Amount Of Oil Exported To China -- December 8, 2017

It might be my imagination but it certainly seems the fossil fuel energy story has moved faster in the past six months than expected.

Now we get this story -- big "thank you" to Don for alerting me to the story.

From CNBC:

• China crude oil imports for November: second-highest on record
• China crude oil imports from the US in November: highest amount on record
• driving the record for US crude exports to China: WTI discount to Brent -- currently about $6/bbl

Rule of thumb: a $7 spread (advantage to WTI) almost guarantees WTI will outsell Brent to Asia, all else being equal. If the spread is less, depends on a number of factors how much US crude oil China will import. The greater the spread over $7 the more likely that data point will be the single data point necessary for China to buy US oil.