This equates to about 1.98 million barrels per day (bpd) and a quarter increase from 1.59 million bpd in April. Evidence shows that Russia has regained the top supplier position to the world’s largest importer of crude oil after a 19-month hiatus, showing that Moscow is able to find buyers for its oil despite Western sanctions, although had to reduce prices. And while China’s aggregate demand for crude oil has declined due to Covid-19 restrictions and a slowdown in the economy, leading importers, including refining giant Sinopec and trader Zhenhua Oil, have boosted the market for cheaper Russian oil beyond supplies imposed by Iran and Venezuela allowing it to restrict competing supplies from West Africa and Brazil. Saudi Arabia remained the second largest supplier, with volumes rising 9% year-on-year to 7.82 million tonnes or 1.84 million bpd in May. This was lower than the 2.17 million bpd in April. Customs data released on Monday also showed that China imported 260,000 tonnes of Iranian crude oil last month, the third shipment of Iranian oil since last December, confirming an earlier Reuters report. Despite US sanctions on Iran, China has continued to receive Iranian oil, which is usually shipped as supplies from other countries. Import levels are about equivalent to 7% of China’s total crude oil imports. China’s total crude oil imports rose nearly 12 percent in May from a year-on-year low to 10.8 million bpd, up from a 2021 average of 10.3 million bpd. Customs reported zero imports from Venezuela. State-owned oil companies have avoided buying since the end of 2019, fearing they will face minor US sanctions. Imports from Malaysia, often used as a transit point for oil from Iran and Venezuela over the past two years, amounted to 2.2 million tonnes, a steady increase from April but more than double the previous year. Imports from Brazil fell 19% year-on-year to 2.2 million tonnes as supplies from the Latin American exporter faced cheaper competition from Iranian and Russian barrels. Separately, the data also showed that imports from China of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) amounted to almost 400,000 tons last month, 56% more than in May 2021. For the first five months, imports of Russian LNG – mainly from the Sakhalin-2 project in the Far East and Yamal LNG in the Russian Arctic – rose 22% year-on-year to 1.84 million tonnes, according to customs data.
