Saudi Arabia, the largest oil exporter in the world, kept its ranking as the number one oil supplier for China during 2020, beating Russia, Reuters reported quoting data from the Chinese government.

Despite COVID-19, oil demand in China kept its strong position. China’s oil imports increased by 7.3% recording 542.4 million ton (mmt), equivalent to 10.85 million barrels per day (mmbbl/d).

Additionally, a data from the General Administration of Chinese Customs showed that Saudi cargos to china rose by 1.9% during 2020, to 84.92 mmt equivalent to 1.69 mmbl/d, compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, Russia ranked second after shipping cargos of 83.57 mmt equivalents to 1.67 mmbbl/d increasing by 7.6% in 2020, compared to 2019.

In December 2020, Saudi Arabia supplied China with 6.94 mmt, dropping by 0.8% compared to the same month in 2019. On the other hand, Russian cargos were down by 15.7% to 6.2 mmt.