RUSSIA - CHINA OIL MAXIMUM

REUTERS - Russia was China’s largest crude oil supplier in March, data showed on Tuesday, retaining the lead spot for a 13th consecutive month.

Last month, Russia supplied 5.79 million tonnes, equal to 1.36 million barrels per day (bpd), up 23.6 percent from the same month a year earlier, data from the General Administration of Customs showed. Russia has been the biggest oil exporter to China since March last year.

For the first quarter, Russian shipments rose 22 percent from a year earlier to 16.51 million tonnes, or 1.34 million bpd.

Saudi Arabia, China's second-biggest supplier in March, also ramped up its exports, the data showed. Shipments last month were 4.6 million tonnes, or 1.09 million bpd, up 1.2 percent from a year ago, but down from 1.2 million bpd in February.

The kingdom is expected to catch up in volume later this year as private Chinese chemical producer Hengli Group will start trial runs in October at a greenfield refinery in northeast China. The plant can process up to 400,000 bpd and is geared to use Saudi oil.

China's total crude oil imports in March rose to the second-highest on record at 9.2 million bpd, boosted by ample government quotas and healthy refining margins. At the same time, the country exported a record amount of refined fuel to ease a domestic surplus.

March crude oil arrivals from Angola, China's third-biggest supplier, fell 12.5 percent from a year ago to 4.08 million tonnes, or 961,810 bpd. Supplies for the first quarter fell 2.9 percent to about 1 million bpd, the data showed.

Overall, China imported 112.1 million tonnes of crude during the first quarter, or about 9.1 million bpd.

The hefty first-quarter purchases caused a backlog of cargoes off the coast of east China in late March. Imports next month may slow as Chinese refineries enter the peak maintenance season starting from April.

The United States last month shipped 973,758 tonnes of crude oil, with first quarter volumes amounting to 3.9 million tonnes, or 315,475 bpd.

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Earlier:

2018, March, 28, 11:05:00 SAUDIS OIL FOR CHINA: +20% PLATTS - China's crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia in February rose 19.5% month on month to 1.21 million b/d, or 4.64 million mt, making it the second-largest supplier, data released by the General Administration of Customs on Tuesday showed.

2018, February, 27, 13:50:00 U.S. - CHINA OIL RECORD PLATTS - China's crude oil imports from the US hit a new record high at 2.01 million mt or 474,450 b/d in January, General Administration of Customs data showed Monday.

2018, February, 7, 08:10:00 CHINA: THE WORLD'S LARGEST EIA - China surpassed the United States in annual gross crude oil imports in 2017, importing 8.4 million barrels per day (b/d) compared with 7.9 million b/d for the United States. China had become the world’s largest net importer (imports minus exports) of total petroleum and other liquid fuels in 2013. New refinery capacity and strategic inventory stockpiling combined with declining domestic oil production were the major factors contributing to the recent increase in China’s crude oil imports.

2018, February, 7, 08:05:00 RUSSIAN OIL TO CHINA UP PLATTS - "We estimate that Russian crude inflows to China will likely grow by at least 11% in 2018. There will also be additional availability in the seaborne market, as PetroChina will take almost all its barrels through the doubled capacity pipelines," said Wang Zhuwei, senior analyst with S&P Global Platts China Oil Analytics.

2018, February, 2, 12:15:00 CHINA'S OIL INVESTMENT UP BLOOMBERG - The Beijing-based explorer sees capital expenditures at 70 billion to 80 billion yuan ($11.1 billion to $12.7 billion) for 2018, it said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange Thursday. That’s an increase of as much as 60 percent from the previous year, which came in under target. It also raised its production estimate to between 470 million and 480 million barrels of oil equivalent, poised for the the first increase in three years.

2018, January, 26, 12:25:00 CHINA'S ARCTIC ROAD REUTERS - “China hopes to work with all parties to build a ‘Polar Silk Road’ through developing the Arctic shipping routes,” the paper, issued by the State Council Information Office, said.

2018, January, 17, 23:40:00 CHINA'S OIL DEMAND UP 4.6% PLATTS - China's apparent oil demand is expected to rise 4.6% year on year to hit 600 million mt (12.05 million b/d) in 2018, with net crude imports to increase 7.7% to 451 million mt, according to a report released Tuesday by state-owned China National Petroleum Corp.'s Economics and Technology Research Institute.