China’s crude oil imports from Russia dip in August – is it a one-off blip?

China’s imports of crude oil from Russia fell in August, but official data shows the change was offset by higher purchases from elsewhere, even as China’s purchases from the US remained suspended for a third straight month.

By volume, China imported 15.2 per cent less crude oil from its northern neighbour last month, year on year, totalling 7.94 million tonnes. And analysts were mixed on whether the decline might be a temporary fluctuation or a sign of a broader trend.

The latest customs data showed that the decline was offset by sharp rises in imports from other partners, including a 50.4 per cent jump from Brazil to 5.19 million tonnes and a nearly 90-fold increase from Indonesia to 2.66 million tonnes.

China’s total crude oil imports generally held steady at 49.49 million tonnes in August, reflecting a modest 0.8 per cent rise from last year.

According to Emma Li, a senior market analyst at energy intelligence firm Vortexa, the lighter flow of crude oil from Russia in August appeared to be a one-off fluctuation largely due to maintenance at key production sites.

Notably, the Sakhalin-1 project in Russia’s far east was previously reported to be scheduled for maintenance in August, which would have halted production of its export-oriented crude.

However, Chim Lee, a senior analyst with the Economist Intelligence Unit, said August’s data pointed to a steady decline in China’s purchases of Russian oil since late last year, despite a few months – such as the jump seen in July – bucking the trend.

South China Morning Post