Russia Emerged as China’s Top Crude Oil Supplier

SEATTLE (Oil Monster): The Chinese government data suggested that Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia to become the country’s largest crude oil supplier during the initial two-month period of the current year. It must be noted that Russia was China’s second largest crude oil supplier in 2022.

In accordance with the data published by the Chinese General Administration of Customs (GAC), the crude oil supplies from Russia totalled 15.68 million tonnes or 1.94 million barrels per day (bpd) in January to February this year. This is significantly higher by 23.8% upon comparison with the arrivals of 1.57 million bpd in the corresponding two-month period in 2022.

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The imports of crude oil from Saudi Arabia totalled 13.92 million tonnes or 1.72 million bpd in the first two-month period of 2023, down from 1.81 million bpd a year before.

The sanctions imposed by Western countries and the price cap on seaborne Russian crude had shrinked the market for Russian crude. Several counties had stopped imports of Russian crude following the invasion of Ukraine by that country. As a result, the country was forced to sell crude at considerable discounts to international benchmarks. The Russian crude that arrived at Shandong ports were traded at a discount of nearly $8, compared with ICE Brent benchmark.