Beijing, June 14, 2026, 19:19 (PKT)
- China’s energy watchdog said Song Hongkun met with Saudi Aramco’s Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani in Beijing. The talks covered energy security and oil and gas cooperation.
- The talks are happening as Gulf shipping disruptions, low Chinese refining margins, and higher crude prices shift Saudi oil flows to China.
China’s National Energy Administration said deputy administrator Song Hongkun met with Saudi Aramco Downstream President Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani in Beijing on June 9. Top of the agenda: global energy security and ways to strengthen China-Saudi oil and gas ties. Saudi Arabia is a key crude supplier to China, the world’s biggest importer.
The Chinese regulator said officials from both sides talked about global energy security and working together on oil and gas. Song called Saudi Aramco one of the top crude producers and said Chinese companies and Aramco have steady deals in crude and refining. According to the NEA, Al Qahtani told China that Aramco values the Chinese market and wants to keep working on refining and petroleum reserves with its Chinese partners.
Energy markets are under stress, putting extra weight on the meeting. Reuters said the meeting happened while the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran squeezed global oil and gas flows, and the Strait of Hormuz stayed mostly closed to shipping. Saudi Arabia is a major oil supplier to China, Reuters said, but Beijing sources oil from different suppliers.
Saudi crude shipments to China look weak again. According to a June 11 Reuters report, Aramco will send about 12 million barrels of crude to Chinese clients for July, or nearly 387,096 barrels a day. Kpler senior crude analyst Xu Muyu told Reuters, “Saudi crude remains relatively expensive compared with barrels from other regions.” Chinese buyers are going after cheaper cargoes from Russia, West Africa and Latin America. Reuters
Aramco cut its July official selling prices to try and offset weaker demand from Asia, dropping the benchmark price charged to term buyers. According to Reuters, the company lowered the July price for Arab Light crude by $6 a barrel from June. The new price puts it at a $9.50 premium over the Dubai and Oman average. That’s still well above pre-Iran war levels since the conflict has mostly closed the Hormuz energy route.
Chinese refiners have delayed two planned projects totaling 500,000 barrels per day in capacity as supply from the Middle East remains uncertain, Reuters reported. One of the projects, the Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Co. refinery in Panjin—a joint venture of Saudi Aramco, Norinco Group and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group—won’t start up until September or early October instead of May or June. The other, a planned restart of a PetroChina crude unit in Dalian, is now postponed without a new timeline, people involved told Reuters.
Aramco’s long-range China plan is still focused on crude supply, refining and petrochemicals, despite the recent disruption. Last year, Aramco China said the company was backing projects in China worth over 240 billion yuan, with Aramco’s share at more than 90 billion yuan. The company added it had been China’s top seaborne crude oil supplier for 18 straight years up to June 2025.
Hormuz reopening now looks like the next big swing factor. Reuters said June 14 that U.S. and Pakistani officials expected a framework deal with Iran to be signed Sunday, but Iran still hadn’t agreed. President Donald Trump said the strait would be “open to all” right after any framework is done, according to Reuters. A draft deal would also lift the U.S. naval blockade and start follow-up nuclear talks. For China and Saudi Aramco, if Hormuz reopens, shipping could get easier. But buyers still have to watch refinery demand, their delivered crude costs, and the risk. Reuters
