China is on track to import roughly the same volumes of crude oil in September as it did in August, extending the trend of recovering shipments just as crude oil prices soared to above $100 per barrel again.
Kpler’s preliminary vessel-tracking data puts Chinese crude imports at about 7.2 million barrels per day (bpd) for September, about the same as in August, Nikkei Asia reports.
The September-arriving crude cargoes were bought at prices well below $100 per barrel, but the gradual recovery of Chinese purchases from the decade-low in June signal further upward pressure on crude oil prices.
Refiners in China have moved in recent weeks to restock on crude supplies, while prices were still in the $80s per barrel.
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 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 earlier this week.
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.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
- Oil Prices Surge to Four-Month Highs as War Risks Mount
- OPEC Sees Oil Demand Growth Explode Sixfold in 2027
- Hormuz Shipping Traffic Plunges as Middle East War Escalates
