Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia to become the largest supplier of crude oil to China in April, customs data showed, as imports rose 18 percent from a year ago as refiners snapped raw materials at cheap prices.
Russian shipments reached 7.2 million tons last month, equivalent to 1.75 million barrels per day, according to figures released by the General Administration of Customs on Tuesday.
By comparison, the volume was 1.49 million bpd in April 2019 and 1.66 million bpd in March.
Supplies from Saudi Arabia decreased to 1.26 million barrels per day, from 1.53 million barrels per day in April 2019 and 1.7 million barrels per day in March.
China’s total imports of crude oil in April were 9.84 million barrels per day, up from 9.68 million barrels per day in March, but a significant decrease from 10.64 million barrels per day in April last year, according to data released earlier this month.
Despite this, imports for the first four months of the year increased 1.7 percent year on year, as Chinese oil refineries used to plunge crude prices.
Analysts estimate that the average proportion of productive capacity utilized in independent refineries, known as “teapots”, rose to about 70 percent in late April – the same level before the outbreak of the virus – but they exclude that state-backed refining companies return to their normal levels before May. .
Refinitiv’s oil research team expects that China’s imports in May will reach an unprecedented high level of 53.7 million tons, or 12.7 million barrels per day, with record volumes from OPEC producers.
In May, Chinese refiners also received their first crude shipment from the United States since November, which was seized during March at the start of the oil price crash.
Customs have not reported any imports from Venezuela since last October, with the National Petroleum Corporation of China, the largest buyer of Caracas oil, avoiding loading any crude from there so as not to violate US sanctions.
However, some Venezuelan shipments diverted to Malaysia for mixing before exporting to China, which resulted in a significant increase in Malaysian shipments, which rose more than three times in the first four months.
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