Twin-track for oil producers will shake up Iran and Iraq | Financial Times

Twin-track for oil producers will shake up Iran and Iraq | Financial Times:

Heightening tensions in the Strait of Hormuz belie a deeper shift taking place in the Middle East. A twin-track oil industry is taking root, with long-term implications for the region.

Historically, the region’s producers have been comforted by the fact that their medium-heavy crudes have been a regular staple of refinery diets, particularly in India and China — the future axis of demand growth out to 2040. 


But Asian refiners are getting used to a new reality: living in a market awash with crude of global origins. Spot west African crudes — previously destined for Europe but displaced by surging US exports — have found their way to China. US grades are becoming a more regular staple of Asian refiners’ diet, while Russia’s growing oil pipeline exports via the East Siberian Pacific Ocean Pipeline (ESPO) have allowed Moscow to corner the independent Chinese refining sector.