China has also benefitted from buying discounted sanctioned crude
Asia’s changing oil market landscape
Chinese demand is at the forefront of shifting oil contours for Asia for 2024 and beyond
Asian oil markets are poised for a shake-up, as a diverse mix of global supply and demand factors—ranging from a slowdown in Chinese imports to new supply developments influencing where Japanese and Korean buyers source volumes—come into play in the months ahead to potentially reshape long-term trends in the region. China features prominently on the list of uncertainties in the final weeks of 2023 and heading into the new year. Chinese demand has been the biggest driver of the relative oil price strength, with imports expanding by 1.6m b/d year-on-year so far in 2023, to 10.9m b/d, but they are set to trend lower in the final quarter, falling from an average of 11.4m b/d in the first half of
Also in this section
10 March 2026
Eni’s director for global gas and LNG portfolio, Cristian Signoretto, discusses how demand will respond to rising LNG supply, and how the company is expanding its own gas and LNG operations through disciplined, capital-efficient investments
9 March 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis sees increases in output from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan among others before region’s murky descent
9 March 2026
Energy sanctions are becoming an increasingly prominent tool of US foreign policy, with the country’s growth in oil and gas production allowing it to impose pressure on rivals without jeopardising its own energy security or that of its allies, argues Matthew McManus, a visiting fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics
6 March 2026
The March 2026 issue of Petroleum Economist is out now!
