China's 2019 oil imports from Saudi Arabia rise 47 percent

China's crude oil imports from top supplier Saudi Arabia rose nearly 47% in 2019, with December shipments from the kingdom flat to a year earlier, customs data showed on Friday.

The big annual boost in Saudi shipments followed a new marketing strategy by state-run Aramco, which signed at least two new supply pacts with private refiners in China that came into the market from late 2018. Previously, Saudi Aramco had only dealt with China's state refiners in long-term contracts.

Shipments to China in 2019 from the world's top oil exporter totalled a record 83.32 million tonnes, or 1.67 million barrels per day (bpd), according to data from General Administration of Customs. December shipments came in at 6.99 million tonnes.

Russia, China's No. 2 supplier, shipped a record 77.64 million tonnes in 2019, about 1.55 million bpd, up some 9% from the previous year, the data showed. Demand from China's independent refineries for ESPO crude - one of Russia's main export grades - helped to push the number higher.

China's imports from the United States, badly hit by the prolonged US-Sino trade war, were nearly halved in 2019 to 6.35 million tonnes, with no December imports.

China is expected, however, to ramp up purchases of U.S oil in 2020 after pledging to buy at least $52.4 billion of US energy products over the next two years as part of a Phase 1 deal to end a prolonged trade dispute. Sharply higher imports of US crude could see importers dial back orders of similar or pricier grades from places such as Brazil and West Africa.