China’s oil imports from Russia jumped 16% in October from the same month last year to just behind top supplier Saudi Arabia, as state-run firms stocked up before a European embargo over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine kicked in.

Supplies from Russia, including oil pumped through the East Siberia Pacific Ocean pipeline and seaborne shipments from Russia’s European and Far Eastern ports, totalled 7.72 million tonnes, data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs showed on Sunday.

That amount, equivalent to 1.82 million barrels per day (bpd), was steady from September but off May’s record of nearly 2 million bpd.
State-run traders including Unipec, Zhenhua Oil and Chinaoil ramped up imports of Russian Urals, loaded mostly from European
ports, before winding down purchases in recent weeks in the face of imminent European Union sanctions and uncertainty surrounding
a Group of Seven plan to cap Russian oil prices. Saudi shipments rose 12% from a year earlier to 7.93 million tonnes, or 1.87 million bpd, versus September’s 1.83 million bpd.

Year-to-date, Saudi Arabia remained China’s top supplier with volumes of 73.76 million tonnes, similar to the same period last year. January-October Russian supplies rose 9.5% on year to 71.97 million tonnes, helped by refiners’ consistent appetite for the discounted oil. Arrivals of crude oil from the United States jumped more than fivefold in October from a year earlier, as refiners took advantage of lower prices amid a surge in U.S. exports from rising output and stockpile releases.

Malaysia, which for the past over two years has been a transfer point for shipments originating from Iran and Venezuela, almost doubled on year to 3.52 million tonnes. No imports were recorded from Venezuela or Iran.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Chen Aizhu and Muyu Xu; Editing by William