* China’s crude oil imports from top supplier Russia fell 0.7% year-on-year in December to 9.33 million metric tons, or 2.2 million barrels per day, but hit the highest level for 2025.
* Imports from Malaysia, the largest trans-shipment hub for sanctioned Iranian oil, fell 37.9% to 4.14 million tons, or 0.97 million bpd.
* Imports from Indonesia stood at 2.19 million tons, or 0.52 million bpd, last month, down 13% from 2.52 million tons in November. China imported around 0.1 million tons of crude from Indonesia for the whole of 2024.
* Reuters previously reported that the surge in imports from Indonesia pointed to a way of masking shipments of sanctioned Iranian crude trans-shipped in waters off Malaysia.
* Imports from the UAE surged 116.4% year-on-year in December to 6.1 million tons, or 1.44 million bpd, reaching the highest single-month import volume on record.
* Imports from Brazil surged 109.6% to 5.4 million tons, or 1.27 million bpd, reaching a record high.
* Imports from the United States have remained at zero since May 2025.
* There were no reported imports from Iran or Venezuela in December.
* Imports from Canada surged to 2.33 million tons, or 0.55 million bpd, in December, up 49% from November and 104.5% year-on-year, hitting a record high.
Below are details of imports from China’s biggest suppliers, with volumes in millions of metric tons. Country December December yr/yr pct
2025 2024 change Indonesia 2.19 0.00 – Iraq 5.85 4.72 24.0% Kuwait 1.65 1.48 11.3% Malaysia 4.14 6.66 -37.9% Oman 3.78 4.04 -6.3% Saudi 6.66 6.37 4.5% Arabia UAE 6.10 2.82 116.4% Angola 3.15 2.69 17.1% Russia 9.33 9.40 -0.7% Brazil 5.40 2.58 109.6% US 0.00 0.91 -100.0% Venezuela 0.00 0.29 -100.0% Iran 0.00 0.00 – Canada 2.33 1.14 104.5%
| Country | December 2025 | December 2024 | YoY % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indonesia | 2.19 | 0.00 | – |
| Iraq | 5.85 | 4.72 | 24.0% |
| Kuwait | 1.65 | 1.48 | 11.3% |
| Malaysia | 4.14 | 6.66 | -37.9% |
| Oman | 3.78 | 4.04 | -6.3% |
| Saudi Arabia | 6.66 | 6.37 | 4.5% |
| UAE | 6.10 | 2.82 | 116.4% |
| Angola | 3.15 | 2.69 | 17.1% |
| Russia | 9.33 | 9.40 | -0.7% |
| Brazil | 5.40 | 2.58 | 109.6% |
| US | 0.00 | 0.91 | -100.0% |
| Venezuela | 0.00 | 0.29 | -100.0% |
| Iran | 0.00 | 0.00 | – |
| Canada | 2.33 | 1.14 | 104.5% |
(1 metric ton = 7.3 barrels)
(Reporting by Sam Li and Lewis Jackson in Beijing; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)