Chinese state-owned companies suspend Russian oil purchases due to sanctions - Reuters

Chinese state-owned oil companies have suspended purchases of Russian offshore oil after the US imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia's two largest oil companies, Reuters writes, citing several trade sources.

According to the agency's sources, Chinese state-owned oil companies PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC and Zhenhua Oil have temporarily refused to buy Russian offshore oil for fear of being subject to sanctions. Representatives of the companies did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

At the same time, Indian refineries have decided to sharply reduce their purchases of Russian crude to comply with the restrictions, according to Reuters interlocutors. The Indian government and state-owned refineries did not respond to requests for comment.

A sharp drop in demand for Russian oil from the two largest buyers - China and India - would hit Moscow's revenues and force the world's largest importers to look for alternative sources of supply, which in turn could push global prices up, Reuters writes.

The cost of oil on this news has already slightly accelerated the growth observed after the introduction of US sanctions the previous evening. At the peak during the trading, Brent added 5.7%, WTI - 6.2%.

China imports about 1.4 million barrels of Russian oil per day by sea, but most of the volumes are purchased by independent refiners, including small enterprises. Estimates of the volume of purchases by state-owned companies vary considerably, the agency notes.

According to Vortexa Analytics, Chinese state-owned companies bought less than 250,000 bpd in the first nine months of 2025, compared to Energy Aspects' estimate of around 500,000 bpd.

Sinopec's trading unit, Unipec, stopped buying Russian crude last week after Britain placed Rosneft, Lukoil, a "shadow" fleet of ships and a number of Chinese entities, including one major refiner, on sanctions lists.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor