China, world’s top oil importer, will receive its first Golden Arrowhead crude cargo from Guyana in December, according to trade sources and shipping data, as producer CNOOC seeks to expand markets for the new grade.
CNOOC loaded the one-million-barrel cargo onto very large crude carrier Sophia on November 3 which will discharge its cargo on December 15 at Huizhou in southern Guangdong province where CNOOC operates a refinery, data from shipping analytics firm Kpler showed. The tanker is also carrying about 800,000 barrels of Liza crude for Huizhou, the data showed.
Guyana is ramping up exports as its oil production from a consortium led by Exxon Mobil has risen to 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) following the start-up of the group’s fourth floating output facility in August. Exxon’s partners include Hess and CNOOC.
The fourth facility produces Golden Arrowhead, a light sweet crude with an API density of 36.5 degrees and contains 0.25 per cent sulphur. The oil has mostly been shipped to Europe so far.
India is also due to receive its first GAH cargo in December, after Exxon sold two million barrels of the oil to state refiner Indian Oil Corp last month.
Guyana’s exports have hit an all-time high of about 700,000 bpd so far this year, up from 622,000 bpd in 2024, Kpler data showed.
(Reporting by Florence Tan)
