By Sam Li and Lewis Jackson
BEIJING, Nov 10 (Reuters) – China’s October crude oil imports rose to their highest level since March this year, official data showed on Tuesday, after the country sharply cut imports as the US-Israeli war on Iran disrupted supplies from the Middle East.
The world’s largest oil buyer imported 41.94 million metric tons of crude oil in October, or 9.88 million barrels per day (bpd), with the daily import rate up 9.4% from September, according to China’s customs data.
However, October imports were down 13.3% from a year earlier, and imports in the first 10 months of the year totaled 399.9 million tons, down 15.1% from a year earlier.
China’s seaborne crude arrivals rose 12% from September to around 9.2 million bpd in October, their highest level since March, according to data from Kpler.
Kpler and Vortexa both recorded a surge in imports from Saudi Arabia, putting October arrivals at 1.6 million bpd and 2 million bpd, respectively. China’s official data showed imports from Saudi Arabia averaged 1.62 million bpd in 2025.
Energy Aspects estimated that China’s refinery throughput fell from September levels to 13.75 million bpd in October. With more barrels arriving from the Middle East, the consultancy estimated that crude inventories rose by 6 million barrels in October, based on its crude oil supply and demand balance.
Product stock levels and uncertainty over China’s refined oil product export plans are the key factors affecting refinery throughput.
Energy Aspects estimated that China’s state-owned refiners refrained from ramping up runs due to uncertainty over export policies, while Kpler expects refinery runs to stay near current levels through the end of the year because refiners may need to build up product stocks even if exports are lower than expected.
Kpler’s and Vortexa’s onshore crude inventory data based on satellite images showed draws of 7 million and 12 million barrels, respectively, in October, compared with larger draws of 47 million and 57 million barrels in September.
Kpler expects the seaborne crude import rate to stay slightly above October’s level in November and December, supporting a marginal rise in China’s crude inventories.
Customs data also showed that China’s oil product exports, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and fuel oil, fell to 5.18 million tons in October from 7.16 million tons in September, though they were up 14.6% from a year earlier.
Refined oil product exports in the first 10 months of the year totaled 46.59 million tons, down 2% from a year earlier.
Natural gas imports, including liquefied natural gas and pipeline gas, rose 2.4% from a year earlier to 10.01 million tons in October.
January-to-October natural gas imports totaled 99.22 million tons, down 2.8% from a year earlier.
(Reporting by Sam Li and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)
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