China refiners grab Russian oil as Trump menaces flows to India

Oil refiners in China have stepped up purchases of Russia’s flagship crude, seizing an opportunity to take discounted cargoes relinquished by India as Washington ramps up trade tariffs against New Delhi.

While China is the largest importer of Russian oil, it tends to take deliveries from the nation’s Far East. Yet so far in August, shipments of Urals — which loads from Baltic and Black Sea ports — were almost 75,000 barrels a day. That’s almost double the year-to-date average of about 40,000 barrels, according to Kpler. In contrast, exports to India sunk to no more than 400,000 barrels a day this month, compared with the average of 1.18 million.