BEIJING / SINGAPORE, Sept.20 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, maintained its rank as China’s top crude supplier for the ninth consecutive month in August as major producers eased production cuts .

Saudi oil arrivals jumped 53% from the previous year to 8.06 million tonnes, or 1.96 million barrels per day (bpd), data from the General Administration of the United Nations showed on Monday. customs.

This compares to 1.58 million bpd in July and 1.24 million bpd in August of last year.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as OPEC +, decided in July to ease production cuts and increase supply by an additional 2 million bpd, adding 0 , 4 million bpd per month from August to December. In July, OPEC production increased 640,000 b / d to 26.66 million b / d. Read more

Chinese crude oil imports from Russia amounted to 6.53 million tonnes in August, or 1.59 million bpd, stable from 1.56 million bpd in July.

The big gap behind Saudi volumes was due to Beijing’s decision to cut import quotas for crude oil from its independent refiners, which favor Russia’s ESPO blend.

Crude oil arrivals from Malaysia more than doubled from last year’s levels to 1.75 million tonnes, with traders saying refiners may have rebranded the Venezuelan heavy oil previously passed on as a blend. bitumen to Malaysian crude after Beijing imposed heavy import taxes on blended fuels. Read more

Meanwhile, shipments from the United Arab Emirates fell nearly 40% year-on-year, a possible sign that demand for Iranian oil has passed through as qualities, including supplies from the United Arab Emirates, are remained dull after the peak in arrivals at the start of this year.

Official data has still not recorded any imports from Iran or Venezuela since the start of this year.

The table below shows the breakdown of imports by major suppliers, with volumes in metric tons and percentage changes calculated by Reuters.

Report by Chen Aizhu in Singapore and Muyu Xu in Beijing; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu

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