Oil tankers set course for China. 300 million tons of oil in Chinese ports
By China is the world’s largest maritime importer of crude oil. Fuel terminals in Chinese ports are operating at full capacity. Despite pipeline imports, crude oil transport through fuel terminals has reached record levels. The PRC’s refinery and chemical industries were the source of the highest volumes of demand in the January-July 2025 period. Pipelines from China’s maritime terminals pumped 22.5% of the crude oil traded by sea.
In 2024, global crude oil supplies reached a record high of 2,194.6 million tons. Tanker transport increased by a modest 0.4% year-on-year, excluding all cabotage trade, according to Banchero Costa Research, based on data from LSEG’s oil tanker traffic monitoring. 2025 began with weak demand.
A year down by 1 million tons
Tankers loaded 1,276.3 million tons between January and July 2025. Many tanker operators had to accept the loss of cargo, as demand for crude oil declined by 0.8% year-on-year during the period under review, or over 1 million tons. Exports from the Persian Gulf increased by 0.1% year-on-year to 510 million tons between January and July 2025. Shipments from this volatile region accounted for over 40% of the supply in the maritime crude oil trade.
Global Oil Trade in 2024. Graphic: Visual Capitalist
Exporters using Russian ports (including Kazakh oil) reduced tanker loadings by 3.7% year-on-year between January and July 2025. 132.1 million tons of oil departed Russian ports via tankers. This represented only 10.4% of global oil trade. South American exports increased by 7.2% year-on-year to 122.8 million tons. The share of oil from this region reached 9.6%.
American exporters reduced oil supply at fuel terminals by 13.6% year-on-year. By July of this year, 103.1 million tons of oil had been transported via tankers, representing an 8.1% share of global oil trade. Exports from Southeast Asia fell by 12.6% year-on-year. From these countries, 64.7 million tons of crude oil were exported by tankers through July 2025. These latest figures also reflect the re-export of crude oil from Russia, notes Banchero Costa Research.
The Chinese economy was the main driving force in the oil market. In terms of demand, the Dragon Land was the largest importer of crude oil by sea in the January-July 2025 period. China accounted for 22.5% of global crude oil trade. China’s high market share remained despite tanker imports to Chinese ports falling by 3.7% year-on-year. By July of this year, tankers had delivered 285.4 million tons of crude oil.
In comparison, imports to the EU-27 fell by 5.4% year-on-year to 264.2 million tons. ASEAN countries increased their demand for crude oil by 3.7% year-on-year. These countries’ fuel terminals pumped 162.7 million tons from tankers. This high demand stems from the fact that these are also Russian supplies, which were later re-exported to other parts of Asia. India’s imports increased by 1.2% year-on-year through July 2025. Tankers delivered 139.9 million tons of crude oil to the country.
China’s oil imports by supplier. Source: Customs of China. Graphic: Econo Visuals
Chinese oil demand
The surge in the Chinese economy’s oil demand is remarkable. Recall that in 2023, China imported 514.9 million tons of crude oil by sea, excluding cabotage. This was already an impressive 14.2% year-on-year increase. In 2022, China imported 450.9 million tons by tanker. In 2024, imports to China decreased slightly by 0.6% year-on-year to 511.8 million tons.
China’s main crude oil import terminals are the ports of Ningbo/Zhoushan (44.2 million tons in the January-July 2025 period), Lanshan (31.3 million tons), and Dongjiakou (22.4 million tons). China has been preparing for increased crude oil imports for years. Since 2010, a large petroleum products terminal has been operating in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province in eastern China. Several years ago, it was expanded on Waidia Island. The terminal is part of a project to ensure the import of petroleum products through Zhoushan, which also serves as an export terminal for refined products. Aviation fuel, among other products, is shipped from here.
“Its facilities include a complex of tanks with a capacity of 550,000 cubic meters. They are connected by a 13-kilometer pipeline. The terminal has multiple functions. It is used for the reception, transportation, and storage of imported crude oil. It also serves as an emergency docking terminal for large ships. It is used for unloading ships and storing products from ships involved in accidents,” reports Zhousan China Daily.
China – Crude Oil Imports from January to July 2025. Source: Banchero Costa Research
The Port of Zhoushan is the main supplier of crude oil to the Zhejiang oil and gas industrial chain. The petroleum products port on Waidiao Island consolidates the crude oil supply system at the Port of Zhoushan. High volumes of crude oil are imported by sea through the ports of Dalian (19.9), Qingdao (19.7), Quanzhou (14.1), and Beilun (13.5). Crude oil tankers were also unloaded in Zhanjiang (12.8), Huizhou (12.0), Yantai (11.5), Tianjin (10.9), Shuidong (10.5), Jieyang (9.2), Cezi (7.7), and Caofeidian (6.7), according to Banchero Costa Research experts.
In terms of supply sources, the majority of China’s oil imports come from the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is China’s largest supplier of crude oil. By the end of July 2025, 44.3 million tons of crude oil, or 15.5% of the imported volume, had arrived from Saudi Arabia’s oil fields. This year, China imported 4.1% less crude oil from Saudi Arabia year-on-year compared to the same period last year. During the same period, imports from Iraq to China increased by 0.6% year-on-year to 35.5 million tons, and from Kuwait by 13.7% year-on-year to 8.5 million tons.
China imported 12% less crude oil year-on-year (16.5 million tons) from the United Arab Emirates, and 15.7% less crude oil year-on-year (20.5 million tons) from Oman. Direct deliveries from fuel terminals located in Russia fell by 24.9% year-on-year in the period under review in 2025 to 23.1 million tons. Russia accounted for only 8.1% of China’s total seaborne crude oil imports during the period under review. Oil imports from ASEAN countries increased by 4.0% year-on-year to 35.9 million tons. It is no secret that this also includes re-exports of Iranian and Russian crude.
From West Africa, Chinese refineries increased imports by 3.9% year-on-year to 30.6 million tons. Imports from Canada reached 5.9 million tons in the January-July 2025 period. In the same period last year, only 0.4 million tons of Canadian crude oil were delivered from that country to Chinese terminals. In 2025 (through July), the volume of crude oil imports to China decreased 3.7% year-on-year to 285.4 million tonnes, as China imported 296.3 million tonnes of oil in the same period last year. This year’s imports are better than those achieved in the January-July 2022 period, when 251.3 million tonnes of oil were imported to China by tankers. Approximately 84.8% of the oil delivered to China in the January-July 2025 period was transported by VLCC tankers, approximately 3% was delivered in Suezmax tankers, and 11.6% by Aframax vessels.