Published: · Region: Global · Category: markets

Sinopec Boosts Russian Oil Buys as Iran War Squeezes Middle East Supply

China’s Sinopec is raising imports of Russian crude, traders and tracking data indicate, to offset tighter supplies from the Middle East as the Iran conflict disrupts flows. The shift deepens Moscow’s energy pivot to Asia and underlines how war and sanctions are rewiring global oil routes in real time.

China’s largest refiner is quietly redrawing the global oil map. Sinopec has increased its purchases of Russian crude to compensate for reduced availability from the Middle East, according to trading sources and tanker‑tracking data, as the war involving Iran starts to squeeze traditional supply streams. The move, reported on 6 August, reflects a hard calculation in Beijing: with geopolitical risk rising around key Gulf producers and transit routes, Russian barrels — discounted and eager to find buyers under Western sanctions — look like a safer bet for keeping Chinese refineries fed. Neither Sinopec nor Chinese officials have publicly detailed the volumes involved, but traders describe a clear upward trend in…

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