Russia overtakes Saudi as China’s top oil supplier

Russia overtakes Saudi as China’s top oil supplier

Despite the Western sanctions on Russian oil, China’s largest oil supplier in 2023 was Russia

by Smruthi NadigRussia has overtaken Saudi Arabia as China’s biggest source of oil imports in 2023, despite the Western sanctions capping oil prices and reducing Russian imports, reports say. According to Chinese customs data released on 22 January, China – the largest oil importer in the world – purchased a record 107.2 million tonnes of crude oil from Russia last year, about 25 per cent more than in 2022. Plummeting by 1.8 per cent, China imported about 86 million tonnes of oil from Saudi Arabia, meaning that Russia was China’s top supplier for the first time since 2018. The price of Russian ESPO crude increased through 2023 due to rising demand from Chinese and Indian refiners, who took advantage of the discounted oil. As a result, the price surpassed the $60 a barrel (/bbl) price cap imposed by the Group of Seven in December 2022. India is the greatest importer of Russia’s Ural Mountain seaborne oil, accounting for 50 per cent of all Russian exports, with China coming in second. In May 2023, China and India both imported record-high levels of Russian crude oil facilitated by discounted supply prices, reducing the demand for oil