據美國彭博新聞社6月17日倫敦報道，在今年早些時候向美國大量出口原油以后，沙特時下幾乎切斷了向美國石油市場供應原油。

彭博社編制的油輪追蹤數據顯示，沙特今年6月迄今為止只向美國出口了一船原油貨物，相當于大約13.3萬桶/天。這大約是4月份平均日出口130萬桶原油數量的十分之一，當時沙特在與俄羅斯的短暫價格戰中向全球市場大量出口原油。

據交易商和分析師說，如果原油出口的低速度在6月下半月持續下去，美國對沙特原油的進口可能會降至35年來的最低水平，從而幫助美國原油市場重新平衡。

咨詢公司Energy Aspects的首席石油分析師Amrita Sen說：“沙特原油進入美國市場的數量將會下降，因為沙特國內煉油廠將開始增加開工率，而國內原油產量將繼續下降。煉油商將不得不從其他地方進口原油以及減少庫存。”

可以肯定的是，幾艘沙特油輪迄今還沒有顯示它們的最終目的地，所以最終進入美國的原油數量很可能會略高一些。然而，6月至今的趨勢是明確的：威脅到美國煉油廠的沙特原油泛濫正在減少。

沙特石油行業官員私下說，沙特不太可能在6月下半月至7月增加對美國的原油出口。通過削減美國原油出口，沙特可以影響世界上最顯眼的石油市場，這是因為美國海關數據允許對貨物進行近乎實時的監控。沙特原油進口的減少很可能會減少受到密切關注的美國原油庫存，放大價格影響。

李峻 編譯自 彭博社

原文如下：

After a record April, U.S. imports of Saudi oil near 35-year low in June

After flooding the U.S. with crude earlier this year, Saudi Arabia has all but cut off the taps to the American oil market.

The kingdom has exported just one cargo to the U.S. so far in June, equivalent to about 133,000 barrels a day, tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s about one-tenth of the 1.3 million barrels a day it shipped in April, when Riyadh flooded the global market during a brief price war against Russia.

If the low pace of exports is sustained in the second half of the month, U.S. imports of Saudi crude could drop to the lowest level in 35 years, helping the American crude market re-balance, according to traders and analysts.

“Saudi oil arrivals will fall just as domestic refiners will start raising runs and domestic production continues to decline,” said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultant Energy Aspects Ltd. “U.S. refiners will have to import from elsewhere and run down stocks,” she added.

To be sure, several Saudi tankers haven’t yet indicated their final destinations, so the final tally into the U.S. could be a tad higher. Yet, the trend so far in June is unmistakable: the deluge of Saudi oil that threatened to overwhelm American refiners is dwindling.

Saudi oil industry officials, speaking privately, say the kingdom is unlikely to boost shipments into the U.S. in the second half of the month and into July. By slashing U.S. crude exports, the Saudis can influence the most highly visible oil market in the world as American customs data allow for near real-time monitoring of shipments. Less Saudi petroleum is likely to reduce the closely watched American crude stockpiles, amplifying the price impact.