*China imported 1.901mn b/d of crude oil from Russia in November, almost 300,000 b/d more than it took from second placed Saudi Arabia (1.610mn b/d), for the third highest Russia figure on record after May and August this year. And with November seeing China import a massive record of almost 1.2mn from ‘Malaysia’ – all of which is likely to be mislabeled volumes from elsewhere true Chinese imports from Russia may have been substantially higher still.
*As far as the official stats are concerned, at an average of 1.74mn b/d for 11M 2022, China’s crude imports from Russia are up 10% year-on-year and as such are set to come in well above not only 2021’s 1.59mn b/d but also the all time high of 1.67mn b/d set in 2020. China also took a record 0.85mn tons of Russian LNG in November despite Beijing’s overall LNG imports remaining well down on year-ago levels (MEES, 23 December). (CONTINUED - 951 WORDS)
