<p>Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, beat Russia to keep its ranking as China's top crude supplier in 2020, Chinese government data showed on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Oil demand in China, the world's top oil importer, remained strong last year even as the coronavirus crisis hammered global appetite. Chinese imports rose 7.3% to a record of 542.4 million tonnes or 10.85 million barrels per day (bpd).</p>.<p>Saudi shipments to China in 2020 were rose 1.9% from a year earlier to 84.92 million tonnes, or about 1.69 million bpd, data from the General Administration of Chinese Customs showed. Russia was a close second with shipments of 83.57 million tonnes, or 1.67 million bpd, up 7.6% from 2019, the data showed.</p>.<p>In December, Saudi supplies were 6.94 million tonnes, down 0.8% from the same month a year earlier, while Russian volumes fell 15.7% to 6.2 million tonnes. China's imports of U.S. oil more than tripled in 2020 to 19.76 million tonnes, or 394,000 bpd, compared to a year earlier, as companies bought crude under a trade deal between Washington and Beijing.</p>.<p>Imports were 3.6 million tonnes in December. China's total purchases of major US energy products, including crude, liquefied natural gas, propane, butane and coal, were worth $9.784 billion in 2020, about 38.7% of the $25.3 billion target set out in the Phase 1 trade deal.</p>.<p>Saudi Arabia has played catch up as a supplier since November by cutting prices to woo customers, overtaking Russia, which had led for most of 2020 with more flexible transport options and geographical proximity to Chinese refiners.</p>.<p>The US sanctions nearly choked off oil exports from Iran and Venezuela, while Iraq was the main beneficiary. Iraq's oil exports to China rose 16.1% to 60.12 million tonnes in 2020, making it China's third-largest oil supplier.</p>.<p>Cashing in on lower prices and with aggressive marketing to China's independent refiners, Brazil expanded oil exports to China to become its fourth-biggest supplier last year.</p>.<p>Brazil's oil exports to China rose 5.1% to 42.19 million tonnes. Below shows import details by country, in metric tonnes: Country Dec y/y Jan-Dec y/y % change % change Saudi Arabia 6,938,734 -0.8 84,923,037 1.9 Russia 6,204,929 -15.7 83,572,320 7.6 Iraq 3,178,954 -32.6 60,117,530 16.1 Brazil 2,154,408 -33.5 42,189,940 5.1 Angola 3,825,103 -19.4 41,785,072 -11.7 Oman 1,635,573 -60.7 37,838,296 11.7 United States 3,599,058 N/A 19,760,319 211.3 Malaysia 1,038,050 8.9 12,528,977 4.1 Iran 518,758 28.2 3,917,658 -73.5 </p>
<p>Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, beat Russia to keep its ranking as China's top crude supplier in 2020, Chinese government data showed on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Oil demand in China, the world's top oil importer, remained strong last year even as the coronavirus crisis hammered global appetite. Chinese imports rose 7.3% to a record of 542.4 million tonnes or 10.85 million barrels per day (bpd).</p>.<p>Saudi shipments to China in 2020 were rose 1.9% from a year earlier to 84.92 million tonnes, or about 1.69 million bpd, data from the General Administration of Chinese Customs showed. Russia was a close second with shipments of 83.57 million tonnes, or 1.67 million bpd, up 7.6% from 2019, the data showed.</p>.<p>In December, Saudi supplies were 6.94 million tonnes, down 0.8% from the same month a year earlier, while Russian volumes fell 15.7% to 6.2 million tonnes. China's imports of U.S. oil more than tripled in 2020 to 19.76 million tonnes, or 394,000 bpd, compared to a year earlier, as companies bought crude under a trade deal between Washington and Beijing.</p>.<p>Imports were 3.6 million tonnes in December. China's total purchases of major US energy products, including crude, liquefied natural gas, propane, butane and coal, were worth $9.784 billion in 2020, about 38.7% of the $25.3 billion target set out in the Phase 1 trade deal.</p>.<p>Saudi Arabia has played catch up as a supplier since November by cutting prices to woo customers, overtaking Russia, which had led for most of 2020 with more flexible transport options and geographical proximity to Chinese refiners.</p>.<p>The US sanctions nearly choked off oil exports from Iran and Venezuela, while Iraq was the main beneficiary. Iraq's oil exports to China rose 16.1% to 60.12 million tonnes in 2020, making it China's third-largest oil supplier.</p>.<p>Cashing in on lower prices and with aggressive marketing to China's independent refiners, Brazil expanded oil exports to China to become its fourth-biggest supplier last year.</p>.<p>Brazil's oil exports to China rose 5.1% to 42.19 million tonnes. Below shows import details by country, in metric tonnes: Country Dec y/y Jan-Dec y/y % change % change Saudi Arabia 6,938,734 -0.8 84,923,037 1.9 Russia 6,204,929 -15.7 83,572,320 7.6 Iraq 3,178,954 -32.6 60,117,530 16.1 Brazil 2,154,408 -33.5 42,189,940 5.1 Angola 3,825,103 -19.4 41,785,072 -11.7 Oman 1,635,573 -60.7 37,838,296 11.7 United States 3,599,058 N/A 19,760,319 211.3 Malaysia 1,038,050 8.9 12,528,977 4.1 Iran 518,758 28.2 3,917,658 -73.5 </p>