China’s Oil Imports Hit 20-Month High as Iran and Russia Flows Rebound

China’s Oil Imports Hit 20-Month High as Iran and Russia Flows Rebound | OilPrice.com

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Breaking News:

ByTsvetana Paraskova– Apr 14, 2025, 5:47 AM CDT

Chinese crude oil imports topped 12 million barrels per day (bpd) in March, the highest volume since August 2023, as flows of Iranian and Russian crude rebounded from the lows seen early this year with the U.S. sanctions.

China imported a total of 51.41 million metric tons of crude oil in March, data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs showed on Monday.

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That’s equivalent to 12.1 million bpd in crude arrivals last month, per Reuters calculations. The import volumes in March were the highest since August 2023 and were much higher than the 10.38 million bpd in crude imports in January-February 2025 or the 11.55 million bpd crude imported in March 2024.

China’s crude oil imports over the first two months of the year fell by 5% compared to the same period of 2024 as the farewell round of sanctions that the Biden administration imposed on Russian energy affected international flows.

However, a massive reshuffling of tankers following the sanctions on Russia and Iran has allowed non-sanctioned vessels to pick up trade with Russian and Iranian oil. This was widely expected to result in a rebound in China’s imports of cheaper crude from the two producers in March, from a two-year low in February.

About a dozen tankers that have not been sanctioned by the U.S. have recently joined the oil delivery route from Russia to China, including tankers that have previously carried Russian oil to India.

China’s seaborne crude imports rebounded to 10.6 million bpd in March—the highest since October 2023, driven largely by record Iranian crude arrivals into the Shandong region, home to the independent refiners, Emma Li, senior market analyst at Vortexa, wrote in an analysis last week.

Iranian crude imports into China surged to a record 1.8 million bpd in March, with Shandong alone absorbing more than 1.5 million bpd and marking a nearly 50% jump from the 2024 average, according to Vortexa.

Russian crude is also on the rebound in China, with many cargoes on sanctioned tankers finding buyers in Shandong. Moreover, stranded Russian Arctic cargoes are now targeting Chinese teapot buyers via ship-to-ship (STS) transfers using the dark fleet, Vortexa noted.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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