Singapore — China's crude oil imports from the US fell to zero in October for the first time since February 2017, latest data released by the General Administration of Customs showed.
Not registered?
Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience.
Register NowThe country's crude imports from Iran dropped 64% year on year to 1.05 million mt or 248,000 b/d in the month, the data released this week showed.
Imports from Russia rose 58% over the same period to 7.35 million mt or 1.74 million b/d, China's highest monthly import volume on record from a single producer.
That volume was also 54% higher than imports from second-largest supplier Saudi Arabia in October. The OPEC leading producer sent 4.77 million mt to China in the month, up 3.4% on year.
GAC revised down its crude oil imports data for October to 38.88 million mt from the initial 40.8 million mt total released November 8. It did not indicate the reason for the revision.
Accordingly, it revised China's crude imports over January-October to 375.25 million mt or 9.05 million b/d, from 9.09 million b/d on November 8.
CHINA'S TOP CRUDE SUPPLIERS IN OCTOBER ('000 MT)
| Country | Oct-18 | Oct-17 | % change | Sep-18 | % change |
| Russia | 1,737 | 1,099 | 58.0% | 1,663 | 4.4% |
| Saudi Arabia | 1,128 | 1,091 | 3.4% | 925 | 22.0% |
| Iraq | 1,097 | 626 | 75.1% | 897 | 22.3% |
| Angola | 990 | 843 | 17.4% | 883 | 12.2% |
| Brazil | 727 | 270 | 169.6% | 645 | 12.7% |
| Oman | 678 | 337 | 101.0% | 739 | -8.2% |
| Kuwait | 387 | 441 | -12.2% | 523 | -26.0% |
| UAE | 253 | 158 | 60.6% | 444 | -43.0% |
| UK | 253 | 152 | 65.9% | 83 | 205.3% |
| Iran | 248 | 688 | -63.9% | 521 | -52.3% |
| Total* | 9,194 | 7,337 | 25.3% | 9,092 | 1.1% |
| Total* '000 b/d | 9,194 | 7,337 | 25.3% | 9,092 | 1.1% |
CHINA'S TOP CRUDE SUPPLIERS IN JANUARY TO OCTOBER ('000 MT)
| Country | Jan-Oct 2018 | Market share | Jan-Oct 2018 | Market share | % Change |
| Russia | 57,906 | 15.4% | 49,645 | 14.2% | 16.6% |
| Saudi Arabia | 43,206 | 11.5% | 43,134 | 12.4% | 0.2% |
| Angola | 39,179 | 10.4% | 43,456 | 12.4% | -9.8% |
| Iraq | 36,885 | 9.8% | 30,744 | 8.8% | 20.0% |
| Oman | 27,595 | 7.4% | 25,718 | 7.4% | 7.3% |
| Brazil | 25,827 | 6.9% | 19,098 | 5.5% | 35.2% |
| Iran | 25,536 | 6.8% | 26,431 | 7.6% | -3.4% |
| Kuwait | 19,740 | 5.3% | 14,364 | 4.1% | 37.4% |
| Venezuela | 14,339 | 3.8% | 18,114 | 5.2% | -20.8% |
| United States | 12,143 | 3.2% | 5,634 | 1.6% | 115.5% |
| Total* | 375,248 | 100.0% | 349,225 | 100.0% | 7.5% |
| Total* (b/d) | 9,048 | 100.0% | 8,420 | 100.0% | 7.5% |
Source: GAC
-- Oceana Zhou, oceana.zhou@spglobal.com
-- Edited by Wendy Wells, newsdesk@spglobal.com
Oilgram News
Platts Oilgram News brings fast-breaking global petroleum and natural gas news every day covering supply and demand trends, corporate news, government actions, exploration, technology, and much more. Click on the link below and we will set you up with a free trial.
Free Trial