Kuwait’s crude oil exports to China in the first three months of 2017 rose 14.7% from the same period of 2016 to 305,000b/d, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported, citing the government’s data.

As mentioned by MENA FN, in March alone, Kuwait exported 380,000b/d to China, the world’s biggest crude oil buyer, down 7.1% on the year, according to the General Administration of Customs.

China’s overall imports of crude oil in March hit a record high of 9.21mb/d, up 19.5% from 2016. Russia returned to the country’s top supplier in the reporting month, with its shipments growing 9.3% to 1.11mb/d, followed by Angola with 1.10mb/d, up 43.4%.

Saudi Arabia came in third as China’s supplier. The imports from the kingdom fell 4.6% to be 1.08mb/d. Iraq ranked fourth and Iran fifth, respectively.

Despite its continuous domestic crude oil consumption growth, China’s crude oil output has been on a downward trajectory since 2016. Its output declined 6.8% year-on-year in the first quarter, which is 5.0 percentage points higher than 2016’s drop