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China Ramps Up Urals Crude Imports as India Retreats Amid US Tariff Hike
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
Chinese refiners are ramping up purchases of Russia’s flagship Urals crude, moving quickly to snap up discounted shipments that India has pulled back from as Washington raises trade tariffs on New Delhi.
This was reported by Bloomberg on August 19.
While China remains the largest buyer of Russian oil, it typically relies on supplies from Russia’s Far East. Yet in August alone, deliveries of Urals—shipped from Baltic and Black Sea ports—surged to nearly 75,000 barrels per day, almost double the year-to-date average of 40,000 barrels, according to Kpler. By contrast, India’s imports have dropped sharply to no more than 400,000 barrels a day this month, compared with an average of 1.18 million.
“Generally, Chinese refineries are in a comfortable position to keep taking Russian oil for now, in contrast to Indian refiners,” said Jianan Sun, an analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd, according to Bloomberg. He added that Urals crude, shipped from western Russia, remains price-competitive against Middle Eastern alternatives.
The shift comes as the global oil market closely watches trade flows against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s push to broker an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine. As part of this effort, Washington has doubled tariffs on all Indian imports in response to New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian crude. China, however, has so far avoided comparable measures due to a temporary trade truce with Washington.
According to Bloomberg, citing Kpler and Energy Aspects, Chinese refiners have already secured 10 to 15 Urals cargoes for October and November delivery — more than their typical intake. “I won’t be surprised to see more November-delivered cargoes to be bought by the Chinese in the coming days if Urals prices remained attractive,” said Muyu Xu, senior crude analyst at Kpler.
Earlier, white House trade adviser Peter Navarro accused India of helping finance Russia’s war in Ukraine by continuing to buy Russian crude oil, calling on New Delhi to end the practice.
