China saves $10 billion by buying oil from Russia, Venezuela and Iran since the beggining of 2023

From January to September, the country saved almost $10 billion due to record oil purchases from countries currently under Western sanctions.

Reuters reports this.

Lower-priced imports have increased the throughput margins for the world's second-largest oil consumer and refiner. This is especially true for small independent operators — China. 

China's purchases are also a source of income for Moscow, Caracas and Tehran, whose economies are constrained by Western sanctions and falling investment.

According to data provided by Vortexa and Kpler, China shipped in a record 2.765 million barrels per day of crude oil from Iran, Russia and Venezuela in the first nine months of 2023.

These countries accounted for a quarter of China's imports between January and September, up from around 21% in 2022 and 12% in 2020. 

According to Vortexa, during this period, total Russian supplies increased by more than 400 thousand barrels per day compared to last year, as sanctions on Russia triggered a massive diversion of its oil flows from Europe to China and India.

As a result, China has saved $4.34 billion this year by importing Russian oil, another $1.17 billion by buying Venezuelan oil, and $4.2 billion by importing a record 1 million barrels per day from Iran over the same period. 

The statistics from Iran were 60% higher than the record figures recorded by Chinese customs in 2017. Back then, it was 623,000 barrels per day, as Tehran increased production to almost maximum levels and offered discounts.