Saudi Arabia regains leadership in oil supplies to China

In August, Russia dropped to second place in terms of oil exports to China. Over the past month, supplies from the Russian Federation increased from 7.14 million to 8.34 million tons. Saudi Arabia again became the leader in terms of supplies for the first time in four months, increasing exports to China to 8.48 million tons, reports Reuters with reference to Chinese customs data.

In annual terms, oil supplies from Russia increased by 28%, from Saudi Arabia – by 5%. Third place in terms of oil supplies to China was occupied by Iraq – 4.32 million tons. This is 26% less than a year earlier. In fourth place is Angola (2.2 million tons, a decrease of 33.8%), in fifth place is Brazil (1.88 million tons, a decrease of 46.9%).

In addition, imports from Malaysia almost doubled compared to 2021 – it increased by 92.7%, to 3.37 million tons. Reuters clarifies that Malaysia in the past two years “was often used from Iran and Venezuela, and more recently from Russia.

For eight months of 2022, Russian exports to China increased by 50% (up to $72.9 billion), mainly due to Russia’s increased supplies of raw materials and energy. Purchases of Russian oil also increased India. Analysts Kpler considerthat the Russian Federation will be able to sell 50% of the oil that European countries are refusing under the sanctions. EU countries intend to almost completely stop the import of Russian oil in December.

Read about how Russia is trying to secure the transportation of oil in the Kommersant appendix. “Without insurance and reproach”.