Oil imports to China from Russia jumped 55% compared to May last year.
In doing so, Russia is becoming China's leading oil supplier as it takes Saudi Arabia's place.
The refineries received a reduced oil supply from Moscow against the background of the sanctions that Russia is facing following its invasion of Ukraine.
According to China's Customs Administration, Russian oil imports, which include supplies through the Eastern Siberian-Pacific oil pipeline and through maritime shipments, totaled nearly 8.42 million tons of oil.
This is a supply equal to about 1.98 million barrels per day (BPD) and an increase of about 25% compared to April 2022, when 1.59 million barrels per day were transferred.
The data show that Russia manages to find buyers for oil, albeit cheaply, but this is probably the only option following Western sanctions.
The one that dropped to second place in the ranking of oil exporters to China is Saudi Arabia.
Supply volumes rose 9%, compared to last year, and Saudi Arabia sold a total of 7.82 million tonnes of oil to China.
This is 1.84 million barrels per day, less than April 2022 when 2.17 million barrels were transferred per day.
Oil and gas tanks in an oil depot in the port of Zhuhai, China, Photo: Reuters
Despite the sanctions: Iran is also in the picture
Chinese customs data released today shows that China imported 260,000 tons of Iranian oil during the last month.
This is the third shipment of oil from Iran since last December, according to the Reuters news agency.
In fact, China continues to import oil from Iran, despite US sanctions.
The import levels from Iran to China are equal to 7% of the total imports to China.
However, it is clear that China is indeed affected by US pressure.
Chinese customs have reported zero imports from Venezuela, which is known to face U.S. sanctions.
Also, the fact that Russia and Iran are noble in selling oil cheaply causes the supply volumes of other countries, such as Brazil, to decline.
During May, Brazil sold 2.2 million tons of oil to Russia, 19% less than last year.
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