The length of the barge under construction in China will be 140 metres and the width 30 metres. The weight of the hull without equipment will be 9,549 tons and with equipment 19,088 tons. It is planned that the hull will be delivered to Russia by the end of 2023 for the completion and installation of the reactors and other equipment.

India has emerged as a key buyer of Russian energy in the wake of the invasion, scooping up millions of barrels of discounted crude shunned by Europe and the US.

Russia is now China’s top supplier of the fuel, supplanting Indonesia after the Southeast Asian nation deterred buyers by raising prices.

Russia's crude exports rose by 140,000 b/d on the month to average 3.36 million b/d from Aug 1-16 to remain above pre-war levels for the fifth month in a row,

China's crude stocks stood at an 11-month high of 945 million barrels in May, accounting for 63% of the country's crude storage capacity

The areas of potential cooperation include upstream and downstream businesses, engineering and construction, oilfield services, carbon capture and hydrogen.

Indeed, by 2025, companies in the steel, building materials, petrochemicals, non-ferrous metals, consumer goods, equipment manufacturing and electronics sectors with an annual revenue of CNY20m (US$2.9m) or more will have to cut their energy use by 13.5% from 2020 levels.

The company boosted coal production by 6.2% to 300 million tons and increased sales to 390 million tons.

As a result, China's crude throughput in June rose a further 1.9% month on month to 54.94 million mt in May, when the volume had rebounded 4.1% from a 35-month low of 51.81 million mt in April,

The proposal will be submitted to senior leaders, with a recommendation Beijing resume Australian imports prompted by fears European-led curbs on Russian energy will increase competition for coal from China’s main suppliers like Indonesia,