JLC 14th Singapore Oil Seminar

Speakers

Victor Yang
Senior Analyst
JLC International
James Lear
Acting Head of Products and Services
GME
Sean Evers
Managing Partner
Gulf Intelligence
Yu Xie
Chief Editor
JLC International

Background

Ploughing Through Trade War and Potential Supply Disruption

The year 2025 has turned out to be a great challenge for global trade and economy, witnessing trade wars, more regional wars and conflicts, sanctions, etc. In such turbulent times, the energy bridge between the Middle East and China is crucial to the latter’s energy security.

Meanwhile, China is under more pressure to speed up its industrial upgrade, the same with its oil industry. State-owned oil companies’ eagerness to upgrade their refineries has been more palpable than ever. Their increasing integration of oil refining and chemical production will bolster the country’s crude demand to some degree as more chemical production counters the drop in refined oil output.

Despite the energy transition, China’s crude imports grew in the first six months of 2025, but it slashed imports from the United States amid the trade war.

Another market focus is China’s refined oil exports. In spite of declining domestic demand, the country’s exports of gasoline and diesel dropped sharply in the six months. What are the outlook for the last few months of the year?

Some changes to independent refiners’ operation and feedstock purchases were also witnessed in 2025.

JLC will be happy to share with you its insights into these market highlights at the oil seminar to be held jointly by JLC, Gulf Mercantile Exchange and Gulf Intelligence in Singapore on September 9, 2025.

China Sees Surging Naphtha Demand

China has witnessed soaring naphtha demand over the past two years or so, with both imports and production growing fast. In June 2025, the country’s naphtha imports set a record high of 1.61 million mt, breaking the previous record of 1.49 million mt just set in May.

We may see even more records in the coming years when more steam crackers come online amid strong support from the aromatics industry chain.

Meanwhile, the growth in domestic production is expected to slow down, on the back of lower refinery runs as the country faces waning fuel demand, which will also underpin demand for imported naphtha.

But naphtha will also face more competition from other feedstocks, such as ethane and propane, mainly due to better economic performance of ethane and stronger availability of LPG. Other feedtocks are likely to take larger shares in the feedslate.

China’s Biofuels Market Bracing for Changes

China’s biofuels market is ever-changing—in the past year, it has been undergoing shifts in the trade flows of feedstocks and finished products, both at home and abroad. The competition for feedstocks has intensified, and trading has also become more volatile as participants are increasingly spread-sensitive when faced with a more diversified selection of feedstocks.

Domestically, efforts have also been observed to encourage the application of biofuels in shipping and air industries, with a new pilot scheme likely to unwrap and SAF exports whitelist expected to expand in Q3.

Where is the market headed for? And what are the challenges and opportunities? We’ll bring you our insights at the oil seminar to be jointly held by JLC, Gulf Mercantile Exchange and Gulf Intelligence in Singapore on September 9, 2025.

The Seminar is for

Oil traders, investors,
market intelligence managers

Investment banks, risk managers
and finance managers/advisors

Crude oil practitioners who
want to know more
about China’s oil Market

Key Benefits of Attending

Network with peers
in the industry
Stay updated with the latest policy
and dynamics in China’s oil market
Deepen your understanding of
government policy

Seminar Agenda

JLC 14th Singapore Oil Seminar

8:30 am: Registration (Please bring along your business card)

9:00 am: Opening Remarks (Tony Tang, General Manager, JLC International)

China Oil and Refining Session

9:05 am

Ploughing Through Trade War and Potential Supply Disruption

• China’s oil demand and product exports in 2025;

• State-owned refiners speed up refinery upgrade to meet challenges;

• Independent refiners’ operation and feedstock purchases in 2025

Speaker: Victor Yang, Senior Analyst, JLC International

GME Session

9:30 am

The Dynamics of the Sweet/Sour Crude Spread and its Effects on the East of Suez Market

• Drivers shaping the sweet/sour crude spread in 2024-2025

• East of Suez market vulnerability

• Outlook & strategic impact for 2025

Speaker: James Lear, Acting Head of Products and Services, GME

9:55 am: Coffee break and networking

GI Session

10:20 am

Global Macroeconomic Outlook Through Prism of the Middle East After Three Quarters of Trump 2.0

• No (Wo)man is an Island!

• The Middle East: MAXIMUM ENERGY

• The World: PEAK CHINA

• The Galaxy: TRUMP PUNCH

• THE ANSWERS ARE IN THE NEXUS...

Speaker: Sean Evers, Managing Partner, Gulf Intelligence

China Naphtha and Biofuel Session

10:45 am

China Sees Surging Naphtha Demand

• China to see expanding naphtha supply in 2025 to 2030

• Share of naphtha in ethylene production to come under pressure from diversifying feedslate

• Naphtha demand to remain robust on steady development of polyester industry chains

• Application of naphtha in high value-added industry chains

China’s Biofuels Market Bracing for Changes

• Shifts in global UCO trade flows and the impacts

• The competition for waste oils and fats in China—any potentials?

• A market shaped by prices and spread-analysis of UCOME, HVO and SAF

• Outlook for China’s SAF-related policy framework

Speaker: Yu Xie, Chief Editor, JLC International

11:10 am: Closing remarks

Register Here

About JLC

At JLC, our purpose is simple—We empower market participants.

With twenty years of endeavor in China’s bulk commodity market, we are proud to offer our premium services in data intelligence, real-time business information, industry analysis, custom reports, market research and consultation, conference & training, pricing solutions and risk management to 1.38 million customers worldwide.

Headquartered in Beijing with branches in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shandong’s Zibo and Yantai, and Singapore, JLC has a professional team of hundreds of insightful analysts and research fellows providing data and intelligent application services with the help of technologies including big data and artificial intelligence. Our strong database comprising global spot commodity prices, derivative prices, data on market fundamentals, industry data and macroeconomic data covers hundreds of products in over a dozen industries such as oil, natural gas, chemicals, hydrogen, steel, plastic, rubber, polyurethane, chemical fertilizers, chemical fiber and coating materials.

Apart from companies in the above-mentioned industries, we also have long-standing customers ranging from financial institutions and government associations to research institutes. With our services, they have strengthened the ability in market analysis, prediction, business decision-making and risk control, all enabling them to trade with higher efficiency and profitability.

As a leader in comprehensive, digitalized and intelligent service in China’s bulk commodity market, JLC has been an established partner of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) for the latter’s price monitoring, and has been listed among Beijing’s first batch of pilot companies for innovative application of big data. We also collaborate closely with S&P Global Commodity Insights, Refinitiv, Bloomberg, and the Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX).

Inspired by the core values, our team takes the initiative, stands the tests, breaks new ground and strives for excellence. Dedicated to making commodity trading more efficient, JLC is committed to establishing itself as a world-class provider of comprehensive, digitalized and intelligent service in the industry.

About GME

The Premier International Commodity Exchange in the Middle East

Formerly known as DME (Dubai Mercantile Exchange), GME (Gulf Mercantile Exchange) has a distinguished history of providing robust and reliable commodity trading solutions. DME was founded with the vision of creating Internationally accessible derivatives markets for Middle East commodities.

Launched in June 2007 as a joint venture between Dubai Holding, Oman Investment Authority, and CME Group, DME aimed to bring fair and transparent price discovery and efficient risk management to the East of Suez. The Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract (DME Oman) became its flagship contract, providing the most transparent crude oil benchmark for the region and the largest physically delivered crude contract in the world and over 3 Billion Barrels Delivered through the exchange mechanism with 21 Billion Barrels Traded.

On inception of the DME Oman Crude contract the Oman National Oil Company (Ministry of Oil and Gas in 2007) adopted the DME price discovery mechanism as the basis for pricing all its Oil exports to Asia (East of Suez)

This price National level recognition of DME was followed by Dubai Department of Petroleum Affairs (2009), Saudi Aramco (2018), Bahrain Petroleum Company (2018), and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (2020) all committing to use the benchmark in their pricing formula with their Asia customers.

In 2024, The Saudi Tadawul Group (STG) acquired a third strategic stake in DME. This acquisition marked a significant milestone in the exchange’s evolution, prompting its rebranding to the Gulf Mercantile Exchange (GME) and recognition of its Middle East markets expertise to drive a 10 year plan to build commodity markets in the Kingdom of Saudi Araia and across the GCC.

GME is strategically located within the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), a financial free zone dedicated to promoting financial services within the UAE. The exchange is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority.

In partnership with CME Group shareholder, GME products are listed and executed on the CME Globex matching engine and cleared via by CME Clearing. CME is regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is recognized by the DFSA.

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