As Putin Visits Beijing, Russia-China Energy Cooperation In Focus

Since the start of the Ukrainian conflict, Russia, a leading global oil producer, has cemented its energy ties with China, the world's No. 2 oil consumer after the United States.

Beijing has rejected Western criticism of its growing partnership with Moscow in light of Russia's conflict in Ukraine. It insists the ties do not flout international norms, and China has the prerogative to collaborate with whichever country it chooses.

According to China's customs data, the growth of China's exports and imports with Russia on a year-on-year basis quickened in September from August.

Bilateral trade value surged to USD 21.18 billion last month, the highest since February 2022 when Russia started its military operation in Ukraine.

Last month, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said China-Russian economic and trade cooperation had deepened and become more "solid" under the "strategic guidance" of their two leaders.

Russia exports around 2.0 million barrels of oil per day to China, accounting for more than a third of its total crude oil exports. China is Russia's second-largest buyer of Russian oil after India.

About 40 per cent of supplies flow via the 4,070-km (2,540-mile) East Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline that was financed by Chinese loans worth an estimated  USD 50 billion.

From January to September, Russia supplied 1.3 million bpd of seaborne crude, based on the average of data supplied by Vortexa and Kpler. China also imported about 800,000 bpd of ESPO crude via pipeline, according to Chinese trading sources.

The seaborne imports are mainly ESPO shipped from Russia's Pacific port of Kozmino as well as Urals from the Baltic Sea.

From January to September, total Russian shipments grew by over 400,000 bpd from a year earlier, led by the Urals, according to tanker tracker Vortexa.

China has this year saved USD 4.34 billion by importing Russian oil, based on Reuters' comparison of the monthly price differentials between ESPO and Tupi crude from Brazil, and Urals versus Oman, using price information provided by traders.

Russia's pipeline natural gas exports to the European Union may fall to 21 billion cubic metres (bcm) this year, almost two-thirds lower than last year and a more than a six-fold drop from 2021, according to a forecast by Russian state bank VEB.

That's below 22 bcm, which are expected to be supplied via the Power of Siberia to China this year, meaning Russian pipeline gas exports to China will outstrip Russia's gas exports to Europe for the first time.

Russia's main gas export route is a 4,000-km (2,500-mile) pipeline Power of Siberia that links East Siberian fields to northeast China.

(REUTERS)