China’s oil imports hit record 17.3 million tons in March

China’s oil imports surged to a record 17.3 million tons in March, the government reported Friday, as the country nearly unseated Japan as the world’s second-largest buyer of foreign crude oil.

China imported an average of just over four million barrels a day, according to calculations based on data from China’s Customs Administration.
China imports nearly half of the oil it uses. The United States, which imports about 10 million barrels of oil a day, remains by far the biggest consumer.

Japan imported about 4.4 million barrels of oil a day in February, based on data from the country’s Natural Resources and Energy Agency.

China’s oil imports in the first quarter of this year rose 15 per cent from a year earlier, to 45.5 million tons, the customs data showed.

The value of those imports jumped 91 per cent, year-on-year, to $30 billion, as the price of crude oil surged, the customs office said.

Canadian Press