Asia is desperate for diversification of crude oil varieties
According to Dow Jones news in April 22, Eldar Saetre, the CEO of Statoil told the Wall Street Journal, Asia is desperate for getting more varieties of oil, and Asian countries are looking for the supply of crude oil with the best quality and most cost-effectiveness, so as to obtain the supply of crude oil at the lowest costs.
Taking South Korea as example, although most of the crude oil in South Korea is sourced from the Middle East, this country begins importing the heavy crude oil from Brazil. In addition, although the United States starts to export ultra-light crude oil to South Korea, United States should cancel the crude oil export ban so as to get the most competitive prices. Eldar Saetre added, light and heavy crude oil from Americas is usually processed after being blended by the refiners for the purpose of optimizing their fuel production.