Russia has leaped ahead of Saudi Arabia as the top oil supplier to China, according to Bloomberg, as the race to supply the world’s second-largest oil consumer heats up.
“China imported a record 3.92 million metric tons from its northern neighbor in May, according to data emailed by the Beijing-based General Administration of Customs on Tuesday. That’s equivalent to 927,000 barrels a day, a 20 percent increase from the previous month. Saudi sales slumped 42 percent from April to 3.05 million tons.”
Russia, Saudi in competition for the Chinese oil market.
China, an increasingly attractive destination for oil producers as the United States – the top consumer – produces more shale oil. That has led to a race eastward for producers like Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman recently visited Russia for a series of meetings that amounted to a thaw in relations between the two often adversarial nations. Russia’s support of Syria’s President Bashar Assad as well as Iran have placed the two nations frequently at odds in the region. The visit, which concluded with a nuclear pact, a “broad energy agreement” between Saudi Arabia and Russia as well as the possibility that Saudi Arabia would purchase arms from Russia, did not include a deal on oil pricing or production levels, according to reports.
Russia is still under tough U.S. and E.U. sanctions for its role in stoking tensions in Ukraine and for shooting down a commercial airliner, Malaysia Airlines MH17, in which hundreds died. Russia’s banking, oil and defense sectors were hit again on Monday with an extension of punitive measures for another six months by the E.U.
