Politics
China state oil majors ‘suspend’ Russian oil buys due to sanctions
- US sanctions hit Moscow’s two largest oil companies.
- India poised to sharply cut Russian oil imports.
- Russia faces demand drop from two biggest customers.
SINGAPORE: Chinese state oil majors have suspended purchases of seaborne Russian oil after the United States imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, Moscow’s two biggest oil companies, multiple trade sources said on Thursday.
The move comes as refiners in India, the largest buyer of seaborne Russian oil, are set to sharply cut their crude imports from Moscow to comply with the US sanctions imposed over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
A sharp drop in oil demand from Russia’s two largest customers will put a strain on Moscow’s oil revenues and force the world’s top importers to seek alternative supplies and push up global prices.
Chinese national oil companies PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC and Zhenhua Oil will refrain from dealing in seaborne Russian oil at least in the short-term due to concern over sanctions, the sources said.
The four companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
While China imports roughly 1.4 million barrels of Russian oil per day by sea, most of that is bought by independent refiners, including small operators known as teapots, although estimates of purchases by state refiners vary widely.
Vortexa Analytics pegged Russian oil purchases by Chinese state firms at under 250,000 bpd for the first nine months of 2025, while consultancy Energy Aspects put it at 500,000 bpd.
Unipec, the trading arm of Sinopec, stopped Russian oil buying last week after Britain designated Rosneft and Lukoil, as well as shadow fleet ships and Chinese entities, including a major Chinese refiner, two trade sources said.
Rosneft and Lukoil sell most of their oil to China through intermediaries instead of directly dealing with buyers, traders said.
Independent refiners, meanwhile, are likely to pause buying to assess the impact of sanctions but would still look to continue Russian oil purchases, several traders said.
Prior to Wednesday’s sanctions announcement, offers for November-loading ESPO crude slid to a premium of $1 per barrel to ICE Brent, versus previous trades done in early October at a $1.70 premium.
China also imports approximately 900,000 bpd of Russian oil by pipeline, all of it going to PetroChina, which several traders said was likely to be little affected by sanctions.
India and China are expected to turn to other supplies, pushing up prices for non-sanctioned oil from the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, traders said.
Journalists who covered the Gaza war shared harrowing experiences of losses and survival, expressing profound disappointment with the global community’s silent response to the killing of media professionals by Israeli forces.
During the International Press Institute (IPI) World Congress and Media Innovation Festival 2025, a panel of journalists discussed the trouble, distress, and heart-wrenching moments they faced during the Gaza war, saying it was a “deep sense of abandonment” where they witnessed the violent assault on the press.
Al Jazeera journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh, who lost his five family members, including his wife, in Israeli strikes and found his surviving daughter under the rubble, asked: “What did my family do?”
Al-Dahdouh said it was a “unique and agonising reality of reporting” that you had to choose between being a “journalist or a human.
He asserted that the international media failed to respond appropriately to the violence. “We were left alone,” he stated, emphasising that much more was required.
The statistics shared by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) showed that at least 238 journalists and media workers have been killed by Israel since October 7, 2023.
Rawan Damen, another senior journalist affiliated with Al Araby TV, praised Al-Dahdouh’s balanced reporting, distinguishing between the failure of mainstream international media to address the “genocide” and the efforts of independent outlets and some organisations that did speak out.
Laurent Richard, a French journalist, warned of the grave consequences of inaction, highlighting the “normalisation” of the murder of journalists and a pervasive lack of accountability.
“Before the war, we described Gaza as a large prison; now it is a large cemetery,” said Basel Khalaf, a journalist, while describing the situation of Gaza, urging the global media to move beyond statistics and tell the human stories of Gazan reporters.
Khalaf also outlined the urgent needs of his colleagues in Gaza, including essential equipment, medical treatment for the injured, and freedom for those imprisoned by Israel, imploring the international press to keep the story alive.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has appointed Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan bin Abdullah Al-Fawzan as grand mufti, state media said.
Al-Fawzan was named the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia by royal decree, the official SPA news agency reported. The newly appointed grand mufti replaced Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh, who passed away on September 23.
Al-Fawzan has been a member of Ifta and the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research since 1992, as well as the Council of Senior Scholars, the Saudi Gazette reported.
In addition, he was a member of the Supervisory Committee for Preachers during the Hajj, the Islamic Fiqh Council, and the Muslim World League.
Al-Fawzan was born in Al-Qassim in 1935 and attended school in Buraidah. He graduated from the College of Shariah in Riyadh with a master’s and a doctorate in fiqh. He later became the Higher Institute of Judiciary’s director.
The newly appointed grand mufti is also a multi-book author and has conducted several radio shows, including the well-known Nur Ala Al-Darb programme
Al-Fawzan succeeds Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, who died in September after more than 20 years in the role.
He was appointed on the recommendation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto Saudi ruler who has ushered in sweeping reforms in a bid to diversify the economy of the world’s biggest oil exporter.
— With additional input from AFP
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that all trade negotiations with Canada have been terminated, following what he described as a fraudulent advertisement featuring former President Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs.
“Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Earlier this week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford noted that the anti-tariff ad had caught Trump’s attention.
The advertisement showed Reagan, a Republican, criticizing tariffs on foreign goods and highlighting how they could lead to job losses and trade wars.
“I heard that the president saw our ad. I’m sure he wasn’t too happy,” Ford said on Tuesday.
Trump has frequently used tariffs as leverage in international trade, raising U.S. tariffs to their highest levels since the 1930s.
He has regularly threatened additional duties, prompting concerns among businesses and economists.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters on Thursday that Canada will not allow unfair U.S. access to its markets if talks on various trade deals with Washington fail.
Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum and autos earlier this year, prompting Ottawa to respond in kind.
The two sides have been in talks for weeks on a potential deal for the steel and aluminum sectors.
Next year, the U.S., Canada and Mexico are due to review their 2020 continental free-trade agreement.
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