Mubasher: China's imports of crude oil jumped 19.4% year-on-year in March to 38.95 million tonnes, or around 9.21 million barrels per day (bpd), marking an all-time high, according to official data released by the Chinese government on Friday.

Imports were up 10.7% on a daily basis in March compared to February's shipments of 8.32 million bpd, the General Administration of Customs said, noting that imports for the first quarter of 2017 reached 8.53 million bpd, an increase of 15.0% from the same period in 2016.

First quarter shipments surpassed those of the US, which imported around 8.15 million bpd in Q1-17, according to data released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Accordingly, China has made surpassed the US as the number 1 oil buyer.