Asia Snapping Up U.S. Crude Oil In Near Record Amounts

Asia has scheduled near-record volumes of U.S. crude oil to be shipped next month, according to trade sources who spoke to Reuters. Between 1.5 million and 1.9 million bpd of U.S. crude—most of which is WTI Midland—will make their way to Asia in August, just shy of the 2.2 million bpd record loadings of Asia-bound crude oil that the U.S. saw in April. WTI continues to be an attractive grade for Asia’s refiners, who see it as a bargain compared to the Middle East benchmark Dubai. The spread between the two grades stood at $5.40…