Russian crude is more reliant on India and China, but signs of a peak


Russian crude is more reliant on India and China, but signs of a peak

Russia is becoming increasingly reliant on just two countries when it comes to selling its crude oil, with China and India now accounting for more than 40% of export volumes.

The world’s biggest and third-largest crude importers accounted for 1.85 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russia’s total exports of 4.47 million bpd in July, according to data from commodity analysts Kpler.

This gives the two Asian giants a share of 41.4% of Russia’s total crude shipments in July, which is almost double the 21.7% India and China had in July last year.

However, the share of crude taken by India and China has dipped in recent months, having reached a high of 45.4% in May, which was when Russia was desperately trying to find new buyers for its crude as Western nations curbed imports after Moscow’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

China and India accounted for 45.2% of Russia’s oil exports in June, and the drop in July is more of a China-related issue.

China was the destination of 843,000 bpd of Russian crude in July, down from 1.33 million bpd in both June and May, according to Kpler’s shipping data.

Switching to looking at imports shows China imported 1.16 million bpd from Russia in July via the seaborne market, according to Kpler, while Refinitiv Oil Research estimated total seaborne and pipeline imports at 1.67 million bpd.

China’s total imports from Russia dropped to the lowest in three months, according to Refinitiv, which pegged June’s arrivals at 1.78 million bpd and May’s at 1.99 million bpd./ Reuters

Publish Date : 2022/08/10