Sanctioned Russia becomes China’s ‘main source’ of oil

Sanctioned Russia becomes China’s ‘main source’ of oil

BEIJING: China ramped up crude oil imports from Russia in May, customs data showed Monday, helping to offset losses from Western nations scaling back Russian energy purchases over the invasion of Ukraine. The spike means Russia has now overtaken Saudi Arabia to become China’s top oil provider as the West continues to sanction Moscow’s energy exports.

The world’s second-biggest economy imported around 8.42 million tons of oil from Russia last month-a 55 percent on-year rise-as Beijing continues to refuse to publicly condemn Moscow’s war while exacting economic gains from its isolated neighbor. China imported 7.82 million tons of oil from Saudi Arabia in May. In total, China bought $7.47 billion worth of Russian energy products last month, about $1 billion more than April, according to Bloomberg News.

The new customs data comes four months into the war in Ukraine, with buyers from the US and Europe shunning Russian energy imports or pledging to slash them over the coming months. But while European powers are scaling back and Russia’s energy exports are falling, Asian demand is helping to staunch some of those losses, especially in China and India. According to the International Energy Agency’s latest global oil report, India has overtaken Germany as