China in talks with Russia to buy oil for strategic reserves – Bloomberg News

(Reuters) – China is in talks with Russia to buy additional supplies of oil in order to add to its strategic crude inventories, according to a Bloomberg News report on Thursday.

The crude would be used to fill China’s strategic petroleum reserves, and talks are being conducted at a government level with little direct involvement from oil companies, Bloomberg reported, citing one person with knowledge of the plan.

The United States banned imports of Russian oil shortly after Moscow’s invasion, while the European Union is considering a phased embargo, pushing more Russian oil cargoes towards Asia.

(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad; Editing by Edmund Blair)