China’s crude oil imports rose for the second consecutive month in August as refiners turned to additional non-Middle Eastern supply and boosted overseas fuel shipments amid eased export restrictions.
China imported 37.93 million tons, or 8.93 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in August, up by 6.2% compared to July, and further recovering from the decade-low seen in June, official Chinese customs data showed on Tuesday.
The August import level was still 23.4% lower compared to the same month last year, but it’s a marked improvement from the June lows of just 7.1 million bpd.
China slashed its total crude oil imports to a decade low in June, culminating three months of very low import levels amid high prices and constrained supply from the Middle East.
Beijing, having amassed about 1.4 billion barrels of crude before the war, could afford to dramatically reduce its crude buying, slashing import volumes in June by an estimated 4.4 million bpd compared to the 2025 average.
Chinese imports began to rebound in July, with the trend continuing into August, as flows from the Middle East ticked up, and Chinese refiners boosted Russian ESPO grade buying and turned to previously exotic and rare supply destinations such as Argentina.
China’s eased restrictions on fuel exports were another major driver of the higher Chinese crude oil imports in August. The eased export curbs prompted refiners to restock and capture decent refining margins amid a global fuel supply crunch, especially of diesel.
The export figures from China’s customs showed that refiners have boosted imports of crude oil and exports of fuels in recent weeks.
Chinese refined oil product exports jumped by 29% from July to 6 million tons in August, also topping the 5.33 million tons of fuel exports in August 2025, the customs data showed.
“The month-on-month increase in crude imports is in line with the surge in fuel exports in August and continued strong exports in September,” Emma Li, analyst at ship-tracking firm Vortexa, told Reuters.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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