China energy imports drop in April amid Iran war as fuel exports hit decade low

Crude oil imports fell 20% in April to 38.5 million metric tons compared to a year earlier, hitting their lowest level since July 2022, according to customs data released on ​Saturday.

China imports roughly half of its crude oil from the Middle East, ​where the closure of the strait has slashed the number of ⁠tankers carrying oil and refined products to the world.

Saturday's data from China ​does not distinguish between oil arriving by sea and oil coming in via pipeline. ​Data from ship-tracking firm Kpler, however, puts seaborne crude imports at 8.03 million barrels per day, also the lowest since July 2022.

Despite the decline in imports, ship tracker Vortexa estimates ​crude inventories rose by 17 million barrels in April, although it said those ​would fall in May.

The disruption in the Middle East has led China to tightly manage exports ‌of ⁠refined products such as gasoline or jet fuel to protect its domestic market.

That policy drove refined oil product exports for April down to their lowest in roughly a decade at 3.1 million tons, down by about a third since March.

This ​may still overestimate ​how much is ⁠going to customers in Asia and elsewhere because the data includes shipments to Hong Kong, typically a major destination for ​China's refined products and excluded from the export controls.

Natural gas ​imports also ⁠fell by 13% to 8.42 million tons, although the data does not separate seaborne liquefied natural gas (LNG) from gas piped overland. China imports significant quantities of LNG ⁠from the ​Middle East Gulf.

China's crude oil imports for the ​first four months of the year are still tracking 1.3% above last year's level at 185.3 ​million tons.