In November 2025, China significantly altered its crude oil import structure, increasing purchases from alternative sources while reducing supplies from the Russian Federation. The total volume of maritime oil deliveries to China for the month rose to 12.38 million barrels per day, the highest level since August 2023.
This is reported by Business • Media
Increase in Supplies from Saudi Arabia and Iran
There was a notable increase in supplies from Saudi Arabia — oil imports from this country rose by 345,000 barrels per day, reaching 1.59 million barrels per day. Imports from Iran also intensified, totaling 1.35 million barrels per day in November.
Reduction of Russian Supplies and the Impact of Sanctions
At the same time, the volume of maritime oil exports from the Russian Federation to China decreased by 157,000 barrels per day, with an average daily figure of 1.19 million barrels in November. The reasons for the decline in Russian oil imports are attributed to restrictions on import quotas for private oil refineries in China, as well as reduced purchases by state-owned enterprises. Overall, China’s crude oil imports in November increased by 4.88% compared to the same period last year.
As noted by the Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service, 2025 marked the first year since the start of the war when the extraction and processing of Russian oil have been steadily declining, resulting in the Russian budget missing out on tens of billions in oil and gas revenues.
Sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union in October against companies “Rosneft” and “Lukoil” led to a reduction in Russia’s share of Chinese oil imports from 14.7% to 11.2%. For December, “Rosneft” and “Lukoil” announced only three shipments to China each, indicating a significant decrease in their presence in one of the major Asian markets.
Ukraine played a notable role in changing oil logistics: following a drone attack that damaged the Black Sea terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Kazakhstan plans to make direct shipments to China of 50,000 tons of oil from the “Kashagan” field for the first time in December.