China saved $27 billion on Russian oil
Photo: Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping (kremlin.ru)
China has been buying record volumes of Russian oil since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the introduction of Western sanctions. And it is saving quite a bit of money in the process, according to The Moscow Times.
China saves on Russian oil
China continues to reap billions of dollars in savings from discounted Russian oil shipments.
The total economic benefit has reached $27 billion, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin said at the opening of the 8th Russian-Chinese Energy Business Forum.
Since 2022, tankers carrying Russian oil have been heading to China from Russian ports that previously served European customers, the outlet writes.
Russia's share of China's oil imports has now reached a record 27%, while total shipments have exceeded 100 million tons per year. In the first seven months of this year, they reached 67 million tons.
At the current exchange rate, China's savings amount to 2.3 trillion rubles, equivalent to:
- one and a half annual budgets of the Moscow region (1.6 trillion rubles);
- four annual budgets of large regions such as Krasnoyarsk Krai or Sverdlovsk Region (552 billion and 527 billion rubles, respectively).
According to Argus Media, as of the end of August, Urals crude was being sold at Russian ports at a discount of $26-27 per barrel compared with Brent.
The discounts reached their maximum level of 16% compared with prices from other suppliers to China in the summer of 2022. By the end of 2025, after sanctions were imposed on Rosneft and Lukoil, the discounts had reached 8.3%.
India buys Russian oil
India, the second-largest buyer of Russian oil after China, saved $12.6 billion from discounts offered by Russian oil companies between 2022 and 2025, The Indian Express reported, citing customs data.
Buyers are demanding additional compensation for sanctioned Russian oil grades, the outlet writes.
Earlier, RBC-Ukraine reported that China prevented the G20 from issuing a joint communiqué following a meeting because of a dispute over its huge trade surplus.
It was also reported that the upcoming APEC summit in China could bring Russian leader Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping together at the same table.
