Saudi Arabia tops China’s crude supplier in August despite Russian surge

Saudi Arabia topped the list of oil suppliers to China for the first time in four months despite a rise in Beijing’s imports from Russia, Reuters reported, citing data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs.

Saudi Arabia’s oil exports rebounded last month to 8.475 million tons, or 1.99 million barrels per day (bpd). The Kingdom remained the biggest supplier to China this year, shipping 58.31 million tons of oil from January to August.

According to the report, Russia’s export rose as Chinese independent refiners extended purchases of discounted supplies.

Imports of Russian oil, including supplies pumped via the East Siberia Pacific Ocean pipeline and seaborne shipments from Russia’s European and Far Eastern ports, totaled 8.342 million tons. This is equivalent to 1.96 million bpd, slightly lower than May’s record of nearly 2 million bpd. 

Overall, China’s crude oil imports fell 9.4% in August from a year earlier.