Shipments from Russia, Iran, Venezuela make up 25 of imports tanker tracking
Total shipments from the trio at record 2.765 mln bpd
Independent teapots benefit more than state refiners
Upside capped by quotas and as state firms stay clear of Iranian, Venezuelan oil

SINGAPORE, Oct 11 Reuters China has reaped savings this year of nearly 10 billion through record purchases of oil from countries under Western sanctions, according to Reuters39; calculations based on data from traders and shiptrackers.

An unintended consequence of sanctions imposed by the United States and others on Russia, Iran and Venezuela has been to lower the oil import costs for refiners in top economic rival China, which often criticises such unilateral penalties.

Reuters39; analysis of China39;s savings on oil purchases from the three sanctioned countries compares what Chinese importers would have paid by purchasing similar grades from nonsanctioned producers.

The lowerpriced imports have been a boon by bolstering throughput and margins for the world39;s secondlargest oil consumer and refiner, especially small independent operators known as teapots, and facilitating lucrative exports by stateowned refiners of diesel and gasoline as the country faces economic headwinds.

China39;s purchases are also a revenue lifeline for Moscow, Tehran and Caracas, whose economies are otherwise curtailed by Western sanctions and a decline in investment.

China shipped in a record 2.765 million barrels per day…