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Updated June 20th, 2022 at 14:17 IST

Russia becomes China's biggest oil supplier; imports spike 55% as Moscow offers discount

Russia has become the biggest supplier of oil to China as Moscow discounted crude to Beijing due to Western sanctions amid the war in Ukraine, as per reports.

Reported by: Aanchal Nigam
Russia
Image: AP | Image:self
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Russia has become the biggest supplier of oil to China as Moscow discounted crude to Beijing due to Western sanctions amid the war in Ukraine, reported BBC. As the West continues to tout its own approach of sanctioning Moscow, imports of Russian oil spiked by 55% from 2021 to a record level in May and displacing Saudi Arabia as China’s biggest provider of oil. 

Just days before the Russia-Ukraine war had started, Beijing and Moscow declared that their friendship had “no limits”. China even increased purchases of Russian oil despite the dampened demand due to COVID-19 curbs and a staggering economy. 

Chinese companies such as state refining giant Sinopec and state-run Zhenhua Oil, have surged their purchases of Russian crude, particularly in the recent months, according to the report. These firms were reportedly offered massive discounts by Russia, especially as its buyers in Europe and the United States abandoned Russian energy imports in line with the sanctions imposed on the country over its “special” military operation in Ukraine. 

The data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs revealed that Russian oil imports into China totaled nearly 8.42 million tonnes in May 2022. Some of the supplies reach Beijing through the East Siberia Pacific Ocean pipeline and are shipments by sea. The hike in Russian oil imports pushed Saudi Arabia into China’s second-biggest supplier which is 7.82 tonnes, stated the report. 

Russia gained £79.4bn from energy exports

Meanwhile, it is to note here that in the first 100 days of the Russia-Ukraine war, Moscow made £79.4 billion from its energy exports to nations across the globe. The stunning total came even though a massive fall in exports was witnessed in May 2022 amid the international community batting to reduce dependency on Moscow’s oil and gas. European Union (EU) barred Russian oil imports in its sixth sanctions package, but according to a report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), the bloc received at least 61% of Moscow’s oil.

CREA's lead analyst Lauri Myllyvirta said of the current international sanctions against Moscow: "The progress to date is far too slow given Ukraine's urgent need for support. Much stronger action is needed to cut off the flow of cash to Russia.

"Globally, we need to speed up the deployment of clean energy to replace fossil fuel imports and ease the high fuel prices which are driving up Russia's revenues."


Image: AP

 

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Published June 20th, 2022 at 14:17 IST

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