China importing more gas from Russia

Russia has become China's biggest oil supplier, displacing Saudi Arabia. Until May the imports rose by 55% from the year earlier. In February China and Russia said their friendship had no limits. State refining giant Sinopec and state-run Zhenhua Oil have increased purchases of Russian oil in the past months, being offered discounts. Europe and the US have stopped buying oil from Russia as part of the sanctions against the country because of the war in Ukraine. In March the US and UK said they would ban Russian oil, while the EU has been working to end the reliance on Russian oil. India has also been increasing purchases of Russian oil. Energy exports are vital to the Russian economy but stopping the buying of Russian oil can also have negative effects on Western countries. And, despite US sanctions on Iran China is also buying a lot of fossil fuels from the country. In the last days Germany accused Russia of pushing oil prices up. Gazprom, a Russian government controlled oil company has been reducing its oil shipments to multiple countries, like Austria or Italy. Poland, Bulgaria, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands have suspended Russian oil shipments to their countries. Russia is already demanding rubles for the oil. Israel is increasing its oil shipments to European countries. Lithuania, Finland and Slovakia are the largest European importers of Russian oil, followed by Poland, Hungary, Estonia and Germany. The EU imports 40% of its gas from Russia. The prices for oil and gas are rising higher and higher.