EIA: China imported record amounts of crude oil in 2023

Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq were China’s main sources of crude oil imports in 2023. Compared with 2022, China’s 2023 crude oil imports increased the most from Russia, Iran, Brazil, and the US. China’s largest volumetric increase in crude oil imports in 2023 was from Russia. From 2019 to 2021, China obtained 15% of its crude oil imports from Russia, second only to Saudi Arabia. In 2023, Russia became China’s top source of crude oil imports, supplying 19% of China’s crude oil imports (2.1 million bpd). This increase was the result of discounts related to sanctions and price caps on crude oil from Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The next largest increases in China’s crude oil imports came from Iran, Brazil, and the US Customs data indicate that China imported 54% more crude oil (1.1 million bpd) from Malaysia in 2023 than in 2022. However, crude oil imports from Malaysia exceeded Malaysia’s total crude oil production. Industry analysts believe that much of the oil shipped from Iran to China was relabelled as originating from countries such as Malaysia, the UAE, and Oman to avoid US sanctions against countries engaging in petroleum transactions with Iran. In 2023, China increased crude oil imports from Brazil by 52%, from 498 000 bpd to 755 000 bpd, and from the United States by 81%, from 158 000 bpd to 286 000 bpd.

Although China’s overall crude oil imports increased, crude oil imports from a few of its largest sources decreased. Notably, after crude oil from Russia became available at a discount when sanctions were imposed, China decreased its crude oil imports from Western Europe, where crude oil prices were relatively high. China’s crude oil imports from Norway decreased 100 000 bpd from 2022 to 2023, and China continued to import much smaller volumes of crude oil from the UK than before crude oil from Russia was discounted.

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