Chinese refiners stopped importing US crude oil since early 2019 amid an increasingly bitter trade dispute between Washington and Beijing.
There had been expectations of a resumption in the trade at the start of the year following the phase one trade deal between the world's two largest economies. However, the coronavirus pandemic has ratcheted tensions higher just when we thought they were starting to ease.
The coronavirus has made the mathematics of US shale oil growth more challenging. The decline in US shale oil rigs has been rapid and has clouded the outlook for the