Chinese state oil giants — PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC, and Zhenhua Oil — have suspended purchases of Russian oil delivered by sea after the US imposed sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil, reported Reuters, citing several sources in trading circles.
Unipec, the trading arm of Sinopec, already stopped purchasing Russian oil last week after the UK imposed sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil, as well as shadow fleet vessels and Chinese companies, including a major Chinese refinery, according to two sources in the trading sector.
At the same time, the agency notes that although China imports about 1.4 million barrels of Russian oil per day by sea, most of this volume is purchased by independent refineries. According to Vortexa Analytics, purchases of Russian oil by Chinese state companies in the first nine months of 2025 amounted to less than 250,000 barrels per day, and according to the consulting company Energy Aspects — 500,000 barrels per day.
For comparison, China also imports about 900,000 barrels of Russian oil per day via pipeline, which goes to PetroChina, and these supplies are unlikely to be affected by the sanctions, the agency notes.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that supplies of Russian oil to India's largest refineries are expected to drop to almost zero after US sanctions. In the short term, the sanctions mean that orders that need to be placed within the next week — for oil to be loaded in November and delivered in December — will now come from other suppliers.
As Reuters writes, US sanctions have already led to a nearly 5% increase in global oil prices.
Photo: Reuters