OREANDA-NEWS. Russia and Saudi Arabia are in a fierce battle for the status of China’s largest oil supplier, Reuters agency reports. China remains one of the few countries that have increased the procurement of raw materials during the pandemic, and by the end of the current year the struggle for its market will intensify.

In 2016–2018, Russia was the largest oil exporter to China. In 2020, Russia and Saudi Arabia contested leadership, taking turns to pull ahead. According to Reuters, the kingdom supplied more oil to China in January, May, June and August, and Russia in February, March, April, July, September and October. Since the beginning of the year, these two countries supplied China with an average of 1.7 million and 1.6–1.7 million barrels per day, respectively.

By the end of November, the volume of daily supplies of Saudi oil to China will grow to a record figure for this year, 2.13–2.24 million barrels, Reuters predicts, citing estimates from Refinitiv, Vortexa and Kpler.