In October, Russia and Saudi Arabia maintained their positions as China’s top crude oil suppliers amid the cooling buying frenzy although arrivals were down deep from the previous month.
Supply from Russia, including via pipeline, hit 6.64 million tonnes or 1.56 million bpd last month, compared with 1.82 million bpd in September and 1.64 million bpd in October 2019.
Saudi oil imports slipped by 29% year-on-year to 5.94 million tonnes or 1.4 million bpd last month.
Meanwhile, from the US, crude supplies were at 1.63 million tonnes, falling from the record high of 3.9 million tonnes in the previous month. However, in November, Refinitiv trade flows estimated China to buy a fresh record high of 4.63 million tonnes of US crude.
