China saves billions of dollars from record-sanctioned oil imports

China has reaped savings this year of nearly $10 billion through record purchases of oil from countries under Western sanctions, according to Reuters’ calculations based on data from traders and shiptrackers.

An unintended consequence of sanctions imposed by the United States and others on Russia, Iran and Venezuela has been to lower the oil import costs for refiners in top economic rival China, which often criticises such “unilateral” penalties.

Reuters’ analysis of China’s savings on oil purchases from the three sanctioned countries compares what Chinese importers would have paid by purchasing similar grades from non-sanctioned producers.