Agency Report
Customs data showed Monday that China ramped up crude oil imports from Russia in May, helping to offset Russia’s losses from western nations’ sanctions.
Sanctions had scaled back patronage of Russia’s energy over the invasion of Ukraine.
The recent spike, however, means Russia has now overtaken Saudi Arabia to become China’s top oil provider as the West continues to sanction Moscow’s energy exports.
The world’s second-biggest economy imported around 8.42 million tonnes of oil from Russia last month – a 55 percent on-year rise – as Beijing continues to refuse to publicly condemn Moscow’s war while exacting economic gains from its isolated neighbour.
China imported 7.82 million tonnes of oil from Saudi Arabia in May.
In total, China bought $7.47 billion worth of Russian energy products last month, about $1 billion more than in April, according to Bloomberg News.
The new customs data comes four months into the war in Ukraine, with buyers from the US and Europe shunning Russian energy imports or pledging to slash them over the coming months.
The West had adopted unprecedented sanctions against Russia in retaliation for its war in Ukraine, and Moscow was looking for new markets and suppliers to replace the major foreign firms that left Russia following the invasion.
The 27-nation European Union agreed in late May to a package of sanctions that would halt the majority of Russian oil imports.
While the US had already banned Russian oil, European nations were much more dependent on those imports.
Energy is a major source of income for Putin’s government, and western nations are trying to isolate Moscow and impede Moscow’s ability to continue the war.
AFP