Russia did not catch up with Saudi Arabia in terms of annual oil supplies to China

At the end of 2022, Russia was unable to seize the leadership in the volume of crude oil supplies to China from Saudi Arabia. Although its annual shipments grew by 8%,

In 2022, China imported 86.25 million tons of crude oil from Russia with a total customs value of about $58.4 billion (an increase of 8.3% in terms of physical volume by 2021), follows from the data of the General Administration of Customs of China, analyzed by RBC. Deliveries for 2022 are equivalent to 1.72 million barrels per day (the conversion factor for tons to barrels is 7.3).

Russia slightly yielded to Saudi Arabia in this indicator, although in May-July it was ahead of the Middle Eastern kingdom for three months in a row. Oil imports from Russia to China over the past year were 1.4% less than from Saudi Arabia (87.49 million tons).

Saudi Arabia has held the lead in oil supplies to China for the fourth year in a row, although the lead over Russia has narrowed compared to 2021, which was 9%. Russia last supplied more oil to China than Saudi Arabia in 2018. Iraq occupies the third place in terms of oil supplies to China - 55.5 million tons in 2022.

Russia's trade with China hits a record Economics

The cost of Russian oil for China (total cost per unit of delivered volume) in 2022 was 8.9% lower than the price of oil from Saudi Arabia, follows from China's statistics. However, in December, when the European embargo on oil imports from Russia and the G7 price ceiling came into force, the discount of Russian oil compared to Arabian oil increased to 11.6%.

December data from Chinese customs confirmed Russia's difficulties with the sale of oil against the backdrop of increased G7 sanctions. In the last month of the year, Russian oil imports to China amounted to 6.47 million tons, the lowest since March 2022. Relative to December 2021, supplies decreased by 10.6%, and by November - by 17.2%. In money terms, oil deliveries to China in December brought Russian companies a quarter less than in November.

Theoretically, China could receive more Russian oil than official customs statistics show. This month, Bloomberg reported that Russian oil has begun to be actively shipped to Singapore, where it is blended with other grades and re-exported as such around the world. Earlier, the agency reported that mixtures of Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan oil could go to China as oil of Malaysian origin (oil imports from this country, reflected in China's statistics, exceed the production of Malaysian oil). At the end of 2022, China imported 35.7 million tons of oil, the source of which is Malaysia. Much of that oil actually comes from Iran or Venezuela, according to S&P Global.

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