China's Shift to Western Russian Crude Squeezes India's Share as India's Oil Imports Hit a War Low

According to Oilprice.com, citing data from ship tracking firm Kpler reported by Reuters, China's seaborne imports of Russian crude are estimated at about 1.25 million barrels per day in August (Mordad), down from 1.423 million bpd in July but still among the highest levels since April. The shift comes as China's imports of Iranian oil remain crushed by the Middle East war and the US blockade, with China expected to receive just 340,000 barrels per day from Iran in August, roughly a third of the 1.14 million bpd it imported in March.

China, which normally buys Russian ESPO crude from eastern ports, is now reaching farther west, with Russian crude loaded from European ports expected to account for 31 percent of China's seaborne Russian imports in August, up from 22 percent in June. That shift is cutting directly into India's traditional market, since India takes most of its Russian crude from those same western ports. India's Russian oil imports fell to an estimated 1.87 million bpd in August, sharply down from a record 2.79 million bpd in July. India's total crude imports also dropped to 4.17 million bpd, the lowest since the Iran war began, which could squeeze India's fuel exports to Asia in September as well.