Russia’s crude oil and LNG exports to Asia are on track to see only small declines this year compared to 2023 as major buyers in Asia continue to buy Russian energy commodities that are either banned or under restrictions in the West.
The Western sanctions on Russia haven’t been felt too much in Asia, where China continues to import oil and gas at prices it sees fit, regardless of what Beijing dismisses as unilateral U.S. sanctions.
This year, Asia is set to import about 3.22 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude from Russia, which would be a 5.6% decline compared to the 3.41 million bpd imported in 2023, per data from commodity analysts Kpler cited by Reuters columnist Clyde Russell.
Asia is also on track to import 1.6% lower volumes of Russian LNG, at about 14.93 million tons in 2024, according to the data compiled by Kpler.
U.S. ally South Korea has significantly reduced its crude oil imports from Russia.
But another ally, Japan, continues to buy LNG from Sakhalin-2 LNG because a Japanese company has a stake in the Russia-led LNG venture and Japan considers this LNG supply crucial for its energy supply and security.
In Asia, the top buyer of Russia’s LNG is China, whose imports this year are set to be essentially flat compared to last year—at 6.65 million tons, compared to 6.63 million in 2023.
The 5.6% decline in Asian imports of Russian crude oil is mostly driven by an estimated drop of around 100,000 bpd in China’s imports from Russia, per Kpler data, amid overall weaker Chinese crude imports this year.
Last month, Saudi Arabia’s oil exports to Asia rose, while Russia’s crude sales in the world’s most important oil-importing region fell amid lower purchases by Moscow’s two key markets, China and India.
