American Energy Secretary: China is not buying Russian oil and has a bad attitude, causing many Russian oil tankers to linger at sea!
Recently, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated that due to China's refusal to buy Russian oil, a large number of Russian oil tankers are lingering in the Asia-Pacific waters. Therefore, the United States contacted India and allowed them to purchase Russian oil. Before this, the U.S. did not allow India to buy it, and India had agreed and complied. Now, it's time for India to buy Russian oil to stabilize international oil prices, and the White House has once again released the Indians.
Let's first see why China has stopped buying recently? Satellite tracking data shows that since early 2026, the number of ultra-large crude oil tankers (VLCCs) staying in anchorages between the western coast of India and the Malacca Strait has increased by nearly 40% compared to the same period in 2024. The crude oil on these ships mostly comes from Baltic and Black Sea ports, originally destined for Qingdao, Dalian, or Ningbo, but they have been unable to dock and unload for a long time.
For several years, the reason Russian crude oil was popular in the Chinese market was "cheap." Under Western sanctions, Russian oil had to be sold at a significant discount, sometimes even below the international benchmark price by $10-15 per barrel. However, by the second half of 2025, the situation changed:
With global oil prices rising due to OPEC+ production cuts and tensions in the Middle East, Russia tried to narrow the discount margin to recover income losses. At the same time, the increase in crude oil supply from Africa and Latin America, along with relatively stable shipping costs, made the overall landed price of crude oil from these regions close to that of Russian oil.
According to industry analysis, by the end of 2025, the discount of Russian ESPO blend crude oil for China had narrowed from over $10 per barrel during the peak period to less than $2, and even showed a premium in some periods. For cost-conscious Chinese refineries, this deal no longer made sense. Moreover, due to the general refusal of Western insurers to cover vessels carrying Russian oil, China had to rely on its own or "shadow fleets" for transportation, but this capacity is limited and complex to coordinate. In contrast, crude oil imported from Africa or Brazil has mature routes, frequent schedules, and complete insurance, offering higher overall logistics efficiency.
In other words, these Russian oil tankers that are idling are surplus capacity not included in the overall plan, so the U.S. Energy Secretary seized on this issue, which clearly seems to have a motive to stir up trouble.
Interestingly, when speaking to Fox News, Bessen said in a derogatory tone: "You know, we asked the Indians to stop buying Russian oil, and they did. Now, to ease the pressure of rising international oil prices, we allowed the Indians to buy Russian oil again. They did it again."
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1859061919416491/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.