BEIJING, March 7. /TASS/. China purchased 88.3 mln tons of oil and 22.1 mln tons of natural gas from other countries in January-February 2024, up by 5.1% and by 23.6% year-on-year, respectively, the General Administration of Customs of China reported.

In value terms, oil imports added 2.8% in the reporting period to $51.28 bln, while gas supplies went down by 5.5% to $11.31 bln, according to figures released by the customs service.

Russia is the leading energy exporter to China. In 2023, China purchased 107 mln tons of oil from Russia (up by 24%) and 8 mln tons of liquefied natural gas (up by 23%). Pipeline gas deliveries via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline increased 1.5-fold in the reporting period to record 22.7 bln cubic meters.

According to Beijing's official figures, China’s oil and gas imports rose by 11% to 563.99 mln tons and by 9.9% to 119.97 mln tons, respectively, in physical terms in 2023, while in value terms supplies amounted to $337.49 bln (down by 7.7%) and $64.34 bln (down by 8.1%), respectively.