Saudi Arabia ranked first in oil supplies to China in October

BEIJING (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia maintained its position as China’s largest crude oil supplier in October for the eleventh consecutive month, with volumes increasing by 19.5 percent from a year ago, customs data showed on Sunday.

Data from the General Administration of Customs showed that Saudi Arabia’s oil imports amounted to 7.1 million tons, or 1.67 million barrels per day, up 19.5% from 1.4 million barrels per day annually, compared to 1.94 million barrels per day in September.

Inflows from Russia, including oil from pipelines, rose 1.3% from a year ago to 6.6 million tons last month, or 1.56 million barrels per day. That’s compared to 1.49 million barrels per day in September.

Supply growth from Russia, especially ESPO’s main blend oil, followed China’s issuance of new import quotas in August and October, allowing independent plants to increase purchases of one of the favorites.

However, China’s total imports of crude oil for the month of October fell to the lowest level in three years amid a wide cap imposed by Beijing on imports from independent refineries. Read more

Supply from Brazil decreased by 53.2% compared to the previous year, while supply from the United States decreased by 91.8%.

Reuters reported that China’s imports of Iranian oil averaged more than half a million barrels per day between August and October, as buyers see cheap crude oil outweighing the risks of violating US sanctions. Read more

Most of these barrels were exported from Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Malaysia, affecting competing supplies from Brazil and West Africa.

Official data has consistently shown that China has not imported oil from Iran or Venezuela since early 2021, as national oil companies have been sidelined amid fears of US sanctions.

Below are the details with sizes in metric tons.

(Ore conversion: ton = 7.3 barrels)

(Report) Submitted by Aizhou Chen, Ching Ling and Shivani Singh; Editing by Michael Perry

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.