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China's CNOOC stockpiles Russian oil at brand-new reserve base, traders, tanker trackers state

Staterun China National Offshore Oil Co, among the country's leading importers of Russian oil, has in current months been pumping deliveries of ESPO mix from Russia's Far East into a recently released reserve base, according to traders and tanker trackers.

This is the very first time stockpiling of Russian ESPO mix crude at CNOOC's brand-new reserve base has been reported. CNOOC did not have an immediate remark.

The stockbuild, estimated at more than 10 million barrels by tanker tracker Vortexa Analytics, helped lift China's. seaborne imports of the flagship Russian export grade to a. record high in March, supporting costs of the ESPO blend. despite warm need from independent Chinese refiners.

Though less than China's crude consumption in a day, the. stockbuild seals Russia's position as China's top oil provider. and comes as sales to India, Moscow's No. 2 oil customer because the. war in Ukraine, slowed due to western sanctions-driven. problems over payments and shipping.

CNOOC started pumping the Russian crude last November into the. 31.5 million-barrel storage base it has built in east China's. Dongying port, according to trading sources and Vortexa.

ESPO releases into Dongying started rising ... after the. port put into use three new berths able to dock Aframax. vessels, stated Emma Li, Vortexa's senior China oil expert. Each. ESPO cargo has to do with 100,000 metric tons or 740,000 barrels and. the oil is generally brought in Aframax-sized tankers.

Vortexa did not define whether the 10 million barrels were. part of CNOOC's commercial stockbuild or for China's tactical. petroleum reserve, however two senior traders who closely track ESPO. flows said Beijing has been improving its emergency situation stockpile.

This belongs to what the federal government has consistently. required, which is to hold the bowl of energy security securely. in our own hands, one of the traders stated on condition of. privacy given the level of sensitivity of the matter.

China, the world's biggest petroleum buyer, securely guards. information on its emergency situation government stockpile.

Russian oil arrivals into China, including through pipelines. under long-lasting contracts, rose one quarter last year to a. record 2.14 million barrels each day (bpd), making Moscow its top. provider for a 2nd straight year, ahead of previous top. service provider Saudi Arabia's 1.72 million bpd.

China's National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration. did not respond to a ask for remark.

' PROTECT NATIONAL ENERGY SECURITY'

General, about 29 million barrels of ESPO blend were. discharged between November and March into Dongying port, of. which 19 million barrels were offered to independent refiners understood. as teapots while the rest was stockpiled, according to Vortexa.

At 10 million barrels, the stockpile would inhabit. one-third of the capacity at the CNOOC-built Dongying storage. site, which began operation in February 2023. China procedures. roughly 15 million barrels of petroleum a day.

The 6.4 billion yuan ($ 885 million) tank farm is a tie-up to. jointly protect nationwide energy security, the Shandong. provincial government stated last year when the storage site was. introduced.

The website, situated near CNOOC's offshore oilfields, likewise. assists CNOOC market its own production to Dongying, home to 32. independent refineries.

Before last November, the Dongying website was used mainly to. shop overseas crude and fuel oil, Vortexa's Li stated.

China's total seaborne ESPO imports struck a record 28.7. million barrels in March, information from analytics firm Kpler showed.

Of that, CNOOC acquired a record 8.5 million barrels in. March, of which 7.4 million barrels were imported at Dongying,. Kpler data revealed. This compares to 5.2 million barrels. imported at Dongying each in January and February, 3.7 million. barrels in December, and 1.4 million barrels in November when. ESPO imports to the website began.

Lower need from India prompted more Russian oil sales to. China as really there are few countries that can take. Russian oil now, an ESPO dealership stated.