Kuwait's crude oil exports to China surged 27.8 percent in October from a year earlier to 986,000 tons, equivalent to around 233,000 barrels per day (bpd), latest government data showed.
Kuwaiti share of Chinese crude oil imports last month was 4.1 percent, compared to 3.8 percent the year before, according to the General Administration of Customs. In the January-October period, Kuwait exported 191,000 bpd to the world's second-largest oil consumer, up 29.8 percent on the year.
State-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) signed a landmark deal with China's top energy trader Unipec in September, which will significantly boost crude oil deliveries to China over the 10 years, the biggest-ever sales contract in KPC's history by volume and revenues in all regions.
Under the agreement, KPC supplies Unipec 300,000 bpd of crude oil starting from this year, with a strong possibility of increasing the volume to 400,000 bpd, KPC told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) after the signing ceremony in late September.
China's overall imports of crude oil in October grew 18.0 percent from a year earlier to 24.09 million tons, or 5.70 million bpd. Saudi Arabia remained China's top supplier, but its shipments edged down 0.7 percent to 1.08 million bpd from a year earlier, followed by Angola with 719,000 bpd, down 5.6 percent. Russia became third, with imports from the country jumping 38.7 percent to 652,000 bpd. Oman ranked fourth and Iraq fifth, respectively.