China turns to distant oil suppliers as Middle East disruptions deepen

Disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz and the closure of a Saudi pipeline are tightening China’s access to Middle Eastern crude. Al Jazeera reports that Beijing is drawing on stockpiles while refiners seek Russian, Latin American and African supplies, but differences in crude grades, transport costs and limited availability constrain the alternatives.

Oil prices in China have reached record highs as conflict and shipping disruptions restrict crude exports from the Middle East, according to Al Jazeera. Beijing is being forced to balance the need to secure feedstock for its refineries with the risk that aggressive buying could push global prices even higher.

Saudi Arabia shut a key pipeline carrying crude across the Arabian Peninsula to the Red Sea after attacks by an Iran-backed group in Iraq, the report said. At the same time, disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has limited exports from the Gulf. The two developments have affected important routes for Middle Eastern oil bound for China and other Asian markets.

Access to Russian and Iranian crude has also become more complicated by United States sanctions and other restrictions. Energy analyst Marc Ayoub told Al Jazeera that Chinese refiners were increasingly looking outside the areas affected by the disruption. He said Beijing was trying to increase refinery production and rebuild inventories, prompting refiners to seek whatever supplies were available.

China had been able to cushion the wider market because it imported substantially less crude in the second quarter than in the first. The US Energy Information Administration said imports averaged 8.1 million barrels per day in that period, down nearly 4 million barrels per day, or 32 percent. Before the war, China imported roughly 12 million barrels per day and produced about 4.4 million domestically, while accumulating stockpiles estimated at 1.4 billion barrels by the end of last year.

Those buffers are now being eroded as Beijing eases restrictions on refined-fuel exports and independent refiners resume purchases, Ayoub said. Russia is the most immediate alternative: it supplied about 20 percent of China’s crude imports in 2025, while seaborne Russian deliveries rose to 1.68 million barrels per day in August from 1.4 million in July, according to Kpler data. China also receives about one million barrels per day from Russia through pipelines.

Other possible suppliers include Brazil, Venezuela, Angola and the Republic of the Congo. However, Al Jazeera reported that replacement supplies face limits because crude grades are not interchangeable, long-distance shipments cost more, and producers have finite volumes available. Kpler estimates that additional Russian and Iranian supplies can only partly cover China’s shortfall if Middle Eastern disruptions continue. Saudi Aramco sold at least four million barrels to China in August, but that amounted to about 129,000 barrels per day when averaged across the month.