2024-01-20 04:34:31
Despite sanctions, Russia has become China’s most important crude oil supplier in 2023. According to Chinese customs data, Russia shipped a record 107.02 million tonnes of crude oil to China last year, equivalent to 2.14 million barrels per day (bpd) – far more than other major oil exporters such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Chinese refiners use middlemen to handle the transportation and insurance of Russian crude to avoid violating Western sanctions. The buyers also use the waters off Malaysia as a transshipment point for sanctioned cargoes from Iran and Venezuela. Imports labeled as coming from Malaysia increased by 53.7 percent last year.
Shunned by many international buyers, Russian crude traded at significant discounts to international benchmarks for much of last year following Western sanctions over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 as the West imposed a price cap.
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