China overtook the US as the biggest importer of crude last month, the culmination of a big shift in energy flows during the past decade.
Chinese customs data showed that oil purchases from overseas hit a high of 7.4m barrels a day in April, equivalent to one in every 13 barrels consumed and topping US imports of 7.2m barrels a day.
While China’s imports are not expected consistently to surpass those of the US until the second half of the year, the move shows how the US shale revolution has cut the country’s reliance on oil from overseas and how China’s demand has grown even as its economy slows.
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