Russian Oil Exports to China Dropped 30% in January

Oil supplies from Russia to China in January 2020 fell by almost 30% compared to the same month of 2019 in monetary terms, while in physical terms, the decrease is even more noticeable – 36%, Gazeta.ru reports citing official data. 

Analysts attribute the negative trend to the combination of the coronavirus pandemic and the collapse of the OPEC+ deal and the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Crude oil exports reached $2 billion compared to $2.8 billion in 2019. The reduction in supplies in physical terms was even more sharply marked – 36%. The total value of oil products exported to China decreased by 20%: in January of this year, it amounted to $458 million and at the beginning of the winter last year – $569 million.

Overall supplies from Russia to China decreased by 6.8%, from $4.24 billion to $3.94 billion. An increase is noted in categories such as vegetable oil, copper, fish, and seafood. At the same time, total trade with China increased slightly due to the growth of Russia’s imports from China.

Earlier it was reported that in the first two months of 2020, China increased oil imports by 5.2%, and natural gas – by 2.8%. Domestic oil production in January-February also increased by 3.7%, reaching 32 million tons. 

An even sharper growth was observed in the production of natural gas – by 8%. At the same time, oil refining for the same period fell by 3.8% to 99.2 million tons, according to the Russian Federal Customs Service.