OIL: China Daily Oil Summary: Chinese Teapots Hold Off Buying Venezuelan Oil

Chinese independent refiners are holding off on making new purchases of Venezuelan oil due to discrepancies in offered prices following the US’ relaxation on the country’s sanctions, trading sources told Reuters.

• China’s gasoil demand is expected to rise to 220.8mn tons this year, up by 3.09% on the year according to OilChem.
• Chinese gasoline exports are expected to decline by 10% on the year on 2023 to 11.77mn tons due to poor margins, JLC analyst, Wang Yanting, said.
• China’s gasoline demand is expected to peak at 170mn tons at around 2025, Qiu Xuan, a researcher with PetroChina Planning & Engineering Institute, said, cited by Bloomberg.
• YUAN: The currency strengthened to 7.1406 against the dollar from 7.1477 on Wednesday. The PBOC set the dollar-yuan central parity rate lower at 7.1212, compared with 7.1254 set on Wednesday. The fixing was estimated at 7.1508 by Bloomberg survey today.
• EXCLUSIVE: The yuan looks set to rally further thanks to U.S. dollar weakness and year-end demand for cash in China, while The People's Bank of China (PBOC) will continue to shore up the currency and react to firmer tone by narrowing the differential between its stronger daily fix and the market price, policy advisors and traders told MNI.
• Foreign Policy has published analysis of how Washington and Beijing are “competing on trade,” following the high-profile APEC bilateral meeting between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.