Russia’s Oil Flows Pivot East as China Buys More and India Pulls Back

Crude oil exports from Russia to China last month went up by 23% on the previous month, while exports to India declined by 29% on the month, Finnish Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said in its latest monthly update on Russia energy exports.

Oil exports to China in December drove an 11% increase in total Russian exports, CREA noted in its report, adding that China boosted Russian oil purchases the most in December, with purchases of ESPO specifically hitting the highest in four months.

India, meanwhile, under threat of more U.S. tariffs, curbed its intake of Russian crude last month, which brought the total to the lowest amount since the G7 imposition of a price cap on Russian oil shipments insured at Western companies.

According to a Reuters calculation from mid-December, Russian oil flows to India remained rather resilient, at over 1 million barrels daily, the publication noted in a report at the time. This was, however, a sharp drop from a daily average of 1.77 million barrels for November.

Exports of liquefied natural gas, meanwhile, rose to Europe. According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, Russian LNG purchases by France jumped by 18% in December, and purchases of Russian LNG by Spain went up by an even more robust 27%. All European Union members are bound by new legislation to cut off all imports of Russian LNG by the end of this year. As a result of these substantial hikes, total LNG exports last month booked a 16% on the month to the highest for 2025.

Revenues from overall exports of liquefied natural gas from Russia rose by 13% in December, while revenues from crude oil exports fell by 12%, CREA said, noting the latter decline was driven by a 16% in revenues from seaborne exports specifically, on the back of a 12% in seaborne export volumes.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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