According to a recent Bloomberg report, China is still
importing oil from Iran despite re-impositions of the sanctions on the country
by the United States. The energy starved Asian country imported 855,638 tons
(about 209,000 barrels per day) of crude oil from Iran during June 2019.
The data adds to speculation that Beijing may risk running
afoul of the US sanctions to secure crude supplies from the Islamic Republic.
All eyes are on China’s oil purchases as Donald Trump’s
administration continues to clamp down on companies and individuals flouting
its restrictions.
The import-reliant Asian nation is one of the few remaining
buyers of Iranian barrels, after other countries such as South Korea and Japan
halted flows.
China imported about 494,000 barrels a day of Iranian crude
in the first five months of this year, compared with more than 660,000 barrels
a day in the same period in 2018.
In late June, China’s Jinxi Refining and Chemical Complex
received a one-million-barrel cargo of Iranian oil in the first month after the
Trump administration ended waivers permitting imports of Iranian oil.
Since April when the US announced that buyers of Iranian oil
should stop purchases by 1st May 2019 or face sanctions, China has
been constantly opposing Washington’s policies toward Iran and Chinese
officials have repeatedly announced that they will continue purchasing oil from
Iran.
In early May, Chinese Commerce Ministry announced the country’s
opposition to unilateral sanctions of the US against Iran, saying that cutting
Iranian oil supplies will only worsen volatility in global energy markets.
In late May, Reuters reported that Iran delivered 130,000
tons of fuel oil to China despite the US sanctions.
Later in June, Bloomberg informed that China is still
importing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Iran after the US imposed
sanctions on the country’s oil industry.
According to ship tracking data, the Paris-based energy
researcher Kpler SAS estimated that at least five supertankers loaded Iranian
LPG in May and June for China.
China is Iran’s largest oil customer with imports of 475,000
barrels per day (bpd) in the first quarter of this year, according to Chinese
customs data.
