China’s October crude oil imports rose to their highest level since March this year, official data showed on Tuesday, after the country sharply cut imports as the US-Israeli war on Iran disrupted supplies from the Middle East.
The world's largest oil buyer imported 41.94 million tonnes of crude oil in October, or 9.88 million barrels per day (bpd), with the daily import rate up 9.4 per cent from September, according to China’s customs data.
However, October imports were down 13.3 per cent from a year earlier, and imports in the first 10 months of the year totalled 399.9 million tonnes, down 15.1 per cent from a year earlier.
China’s seaborne crude arrivals rose 12 per cent from September to around 9.2 million bpd in October, their highest level since March, according to data from Kpler.
Kpler and Vortexa both recorded a surge in imports from Saudi Arabia, putting October arrivals at 1.6 million bpd and two million bpd, respectively. China’s official data showed imports from Saudi Arabia averaged 1.62 million bpd in 2025.
Energy Aspects estimated that China's refinery throughput fell from September levels to 13.75 million bpd in October. With more barrels arriving from the Middle East, the consultancy estimated that crude inventories rose by six million barrels in October, based on its crude oil supply and demand balance.
Product stock levels and uncertainty over China’s refined oil product export plans are the key factors affecting refinery throughput.
Energy Aspects estimated that China's state-owned refiners refrained from ramping up runs due to uncertainty over export policies, while Kpler expects refinery runs to stay near current levels through the end of the year because refiners may need to build up product stocks even if exports are lower than expected.
Kpler’s and Vortexa’s onshore crude inventory data based on satellite images showed draws of seven million and 12 million barrels, respectively, in October, compared with larger draws of 47 million and 57 million barrels in September.
Kpler expects the seaborne crude import rate to stay slightly above October’s level in November and December, supporting a marginal rise in China’s crude inventories.
Customs data also showed that China’s oil product exports, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and fuel oil, fell to 5.18 million tonnes in October from 7.16 million tonnes in September, though they were up 14.6 per cent from a year earlier.
Refined oil product exports in the first 10 months of the year totalled 46.59 million tonnes, down two per cent from a year earlier.
Natural gas imports, including liquefied natural gas and pipeline gas, rose 2.4 per cent from a year earlier to 10.01 million tonnes in October.
January-to-October natural gas imports totalled 99.22 million tonnes, down 2.8 per cent from a year earlier.
(Reporting by Sam Li and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)