China’s refiners have imported lower volumes of Iranian crude in August compared to July as the U.S. blockade reinstated in mid-July is squeezing crude supply to Iran’s top oil customer.
So far this month, China is estimated to have imported about 534,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude oil, down from an estimated 823,000 bpd in July, according to preliminary data by Kpler cited by Reuters.
The reinstated U.S. blockade on Iranian oil exports is preventing new supply from Iran to leave the Persian Gulf, while the Iranian oil volumes on water in areas outside the Gulf of Oman beyond the U.S. blockade are shrinking fast, with few cargoes still available for purchase.
The U.S. threat to launch the “most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country”, referring to Iran, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s warning that any country extending a “lifeline” to Iran could face “TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences,” is making China’s independent refiners uneasy about potential stricter sanctions enforcement, trade sources told Reuters on Friday.
“Given the thin Iranian availability amid the U.S. blockade, Chinese teapots are now looking beyond Russia and Iran,” Sun Jianan, a senior oil analyst at Energy Aspects, told the publication.
The availability of Iranian crude cargoes has dwindled in the past few weeks, with only a handful of laden tankers not being taken by buyers.
The number of offers for September and October delivery has also collapsed, trade sources with knowledge of the market told Reuters.
This leaves China’s independent refiners, the so-called teapots which have typically bought the lion’s share of Iran’s sanctioned oil in recent years, in search of alternatives.
With the U.S. blockade effectively crippling Iranian supply, “Chinese teapots will need to step up purchases of alternative feedstocks, such as Russian Urals crude or fuel oil, as ESPO supplies were sold out weeks ago, or risk cutting throughput in October when their inventories run thin,” Muyu Xu, senior crude analyst at Kpler, said on Friday.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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