*China’s curtailment of crude oil imports in the first months of the Middle East conflict helped the global oil market withstand the resultant supply shock. But increased Chinese buying is now putting pressure on the market (MEES, 16 October).
*After bottoming out at 8.042mn b/d over Q2, Chinese crude imports increased to 8.7678mn b/d last quarter (see chart). While still 3.4mn b/d below 4Q 2025 levels, the trend is clearly up, and September imports of 8.897mn b/d were a five-month high. (CONTINUED - 244 WORDS)
