Huge tanker with Russian ESPO oil waits near China as demand sags
Many state oil companies in China are wary of potential secondary sanctions from the United States if they buy the sanctions-hit Russian oil, traders said.
China's seaborne oil imports from Russia dropped to the lowest in 26 months in February, with commodity analysts Kpler assessing arrivals at 970,000 barrels per day.
Since then, they have recovered as demand from private "teapot" refiners picked up. But obstacles to Russia's oil trade remain.
The Big Star - a so-called very large crude carrier (VLCC) - loaded a total of 2.1 million barrels of ESPO blend from three smaller Aframax tankers, Leftkada, Kai Fu and Centurion I, between May 12 and May 17 near Russia's Far East port of Zarubino, LSEG and Kpler data showed, and headed towards Jieyang in China's southern Guangdong province before stopping.
One of the traders suggested the three cargoes were placed too late for sale and failed to attract buyers. Oil in Asian markets normally sells one and a half months prior to loading.
The three cargoes loaded from Kozmino port in late April and early in May, prior to the ship-to-ship transfer to the Big Star, LSEG data showed.
It is not common for ESPO tankers to be involved in ship-to-ship transfers given the proximity of Russia's Kozmino port to China, and it is also rare for the grade to be held in floating storage, the traders said.
After May 23, the vessel briefly lost a ship-tracking signal and then emerged near the Senkaku Islands, not far from Taiwan, on May 25, but has remained anchored since, according to LSEG data.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
WeRide receives permit for robotaxis in Shanghai
July 26 (Reuters) - Chinese autonomous driving technology company WeRide (WRD.O), opens new tab said on Saturday it has been granted a permit from the Shanghai municipal government to operate autonomous robotaxi ride-hailing services. WeRide, in partnership with Chery Group and Jinjiang Taxi, will deploy fully driverless ride-hailing robotaxis on public roads in the Pudong New Area, the company said in a statement.
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Attempt to unseat 24 ‘pro-China' opposition politicians in Taiwan fails
An unprecedented attempt in Taiwan to unseat 24 'pro-China' opposition politicians and give a parliamentary majority to the ruling party has failed, with voters in every seat rejecting the notion. Polls opened on Saturday morning for the first 24 of 31 targeted electorates, with voters asked to agree or disagree with a proposal to recall the local legislator and hold a byelection. Polls closed at 4pm local time and by 7pm the central election commission said all had failed to pass, reported CNA, the government media outlet. Under the recall laws, for a seat to be vacated the number of voters in favour must be at least 25% of the electorate and outnumber the votes against. All 24 seats, as well as seven yet to hold a recall vote, are held by the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), which along with a smaller party has controlled the majority of Taiwan's parliament since the election last year, when Lai Ching-te won the presidency for the Democratic Progressive party (DPP), a pro-sovereignty party that has vowed to push back against China's aggression. The opposition allies have used their votes to block DPP bills including defence budgets, freeze constitutional court appointments, and propose bills that critics said would weaken Taiwan's defences. The obstructions led to mass protests from which the recall movement was born. The KMT are likely to be emboldened by their resounding victory on Saturday. A flipping of just six KMT seats in Taiwan's 113-seat legislature could have freed up president Lai Ching-te and the DPP's agenda, but would also very likely draw increased hostility from China's ruling Communist party, which despises Lai and his party, considering them 'separatists' for opposing its plan to annex Taiwan. Seven seats are still to vote on their recall motions in coming weeks, but Saturday's losses will put the pressure on the campaigners to get six to vote 'agree'. On Saturday night, Lai urged people to accept the results of the vote, saying it was 'not a victory for one party, nor a defeat for the other', but a demonstration of democracy. 'After today, we still have many challenges, but we must prove to the world that Taiwan is a country that is capable of resolving internal disputes with a constitutional system, and is also a country that can unite each other with a democratic spirit after competition,' he said. The KMT praised the result as a decisive rejection of DPP efforts to 'overturn' an election. It also urged people not to see it 'as a signal on cross-Strait or foreign policy, nor should it be interpreted through the lens of 'pro-China' or 'pro-Taiwan' alignment'. 'We stand with the people of Taiwan in their call for stability, competence and inclusive governance,' it said. William Yang, a senior north-east Asia analyst for the International Crisis Group, said the recall campaign had deepened divisions in Taiwan. 'All sides, including all political parties in Taiwan, will need to seriously reflect on the process of this recall campaign and think about how they may be able to find common ground on issues that are key to Taiwan's security and prosperity,' he said. Yang said it also raised questions about the DPP using the threat posed by China in election campaigning, 'at least at a local level'. 'China may view Saturday's result as a sign that more Taiwanese people are not in favour of the 'China threat' rhetoric promoted by [Lai and the DPP], and this may make them feel like peaceful unification remains a viable option for them to resolve the ultimate 'Taiwan question',' Yang said. 'However, this doesn't also mean that Beijing would dial down the level of military and political pressure that they are imposing on Taiwan.' The unprecedented vote has fired up the island's population, just 18 months after a national election. Large rallies were held in Taipei on the eve of the vote, with tens of thousands turning out to support both sides. At an emotional DPP rally on Saturday, the campaign volunteer Julia Lin told the Guardian she was concerned the KMT would now feel 'invincible'. 'Their actions have been extremely reckless, and they've lost the democratic values and legal knowledge that legislators in Taiwan should have,' she said. 'We didn't succeed, but I believe we still need to keep trying to get our voices out there and attract more people to get involved to care about what's happening in Taiwan right now.' The pro-recall campaign was driven by civil society groups and activists, but was subsequently endorsed by the DPP. They had aimed to oust as many as 31 KMT legislators who, they say, are pro-China actors who have risked Taiwan's national security. The KMT denies the accusations. They, like the DPP, oppose annexation by the Communist party of China (CCP), but say the best way to protect the status quo is through friendlier ties with Beijing. The party and its supporters have labelled the recall campaign an anti-democratic power-grab by people who won't accept the results of last year's election. Retaliatory campaigns against DPP seats by the KMT all failed, with dozens of officials arrested over allegedly faking signatures. Beijing has also denounced the recall campaign. The Taiwan affairs office previously accused Lai of being a dictator and seeking to achieve 'one-party dominance'. Taiwan's mainland affairs council this week said it was 'evident and clear' that the CCP was trying to interfere in Taiwan's democratic process.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
I've seen the real face of China and it's sadistic and cruel beneath the 'Botox' façade
Former detainee Cheng Lei has warned the Albanese government to look deeper than China's public façade as she describes distressing surveillance that happens daily in Australia. Ms Cheng was imprisoned for more than three years in China, with the first six months in solitary confinement where she was forced to sit still for 13 hours per day and write 'self–bashing essays'. After almost two years free and now based in Melbourne, she has warned the Albanese government against drinking the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 'Kool-Aid'. 'There is China's public face, and it's a great face, and it's getting better all the time, with a lot of Botox,' the mother-of-two said. 'But the surface is not how it is at the core and it spends trillions of dollars – its entire stability maintenance budget – to keep up that façade. 'We are just conveniently forgetting China is a state that prioritises the CCP's rule above all else, and individuals don't matter in that system. 'I'm lucky enough to have seen both sides and I just want to remind people at all times what it can, and does do, when it thinks nobody's looking.' Ms Cheng, who is a Chinese-born Australian journalist, described how 'cruelty is the policy' of China, inside and outside its prisons. 'The people who look at the fancy buildings and infrastructure, and think, "Oh, wow, how wonderful is this!" I want them to pause and think, "Do I want to be in that system?" 'Do I want my kids to grow up with that sort of cruelty and the back-breaking work and not having enough rights and not being able to criticise? 'People get sucked into the Kool-Aid and the fancy façade and they don't ask why Chinese people want to get out of the country, if it's such a great country to live in.' Her comments follow Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's six-day diplomatic tour of China in which he was photographed at popular tourist spots. He also received glowing reviews from Chinese media, which praised the blossoming relations between the two countries. 'I just don't see anything specific coming out of all this lovey-doveyness,' Ms Cheng told Daily Mail Australia following the meeting. 'The Chinese love for you to feel comfortable and that you are friends as long as you play ball. '(Officials) have this preoccupation with "(saving) face" and once you have that friendly vibe, it's impossible to play hardball.' In an ideal world, Ms Cheng wants Canberra to be able to have both: 'Let's talk more on trade, but yes, let's write something specific about the treatment of Aussie prisoners.' Ms Cheng was imprisoned by Chinese authorities in 2020 after being accused of 'illegally supplying state secrets overseas', allegations that were unfounded. The case concerned her sharing a government briefing with another journalist, with officials claiming it was embargoed, despite there being no time of permitted release on the document until a year after the incident. In her new book, 'Cheng Lei: A Memoir of Freedom', she speaks freely and with brutal honesty about the cruelty she endured at the hands of the Chinese prison system. For the first six months, she was placed under 'Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location' (RSDL), which the UN describes as 'enforced disappearance and might amount to torture'. Since 2012, China's Criminal Procedure Law has been amended to give police the power to take people into custody without disclosing where they will be held. 'I had to remain in the same position for 13 hours a day,' she said, adding she was permitted a few 10-minute breaks to walk between guards, only after she was visited by the Australian embassy. 'All those years, I had been told you cannot say this, you cannot mention the word 'case' at the embassy visit. You cannot mention your name. 'I had to write these self–bashing essays in which I just basically was telling lies. I had to write these untruthful things (about myself) in order to get by.' 'I just can't see another country that is as sadistic, as organised and so in tune with f***ing up your psychology that they would design something like this,' she said. Almost two years since she was liberated and, now settled in Melbourne as a Sky News host, Ms Cheng still feels as though the CCP has not forgotten her. 'There are so many strange things, like on Amazon: there are two fake books with the same name as my book,' she said. 'And last year, when I did a stand-up with (dissident Vicky Xu), there were two spies in the audience videotaping us with their hood pulled up.' But her concern remains for others, acknowledging that by striking a public figure, she appears 'safer' than others. 'I hear about ordinary Australians, for example, organising a vigil for the Tiananmen Square Massacre and being followed by hooded individuals in Western Australia,' she said, referencing a tip she had been given last week. 'While I'm personally not scared, it is extremely distressing in our country people who are doing ordinary things that are totally within their rights, are having to do it in fear.' Ms Cheng asserted China has a 'serious fear of its own people', whether in mainland China or among overseas communities. 'That's why they try to control people,' she said. 'It's either coercion through the community associations and trying to woo people, and then for them to intimidate other overseas Chinese.' One example she gave was WeChat groups in Melbourne where Ms Cheng said members are prohibited from talking about the independence of Taiwan or Hong Kong. 'If you do, (they tell you) you can get out of the group,' she said. 'They are also using fear of what might happen to the business interests or their families.' Despite the attempted intimidation, threats from online trolls and a public attempt by Chinese officials to block her during a press conference by China's second–in–command Premier Li Qiang in June last year, Ms Cheng is revelling in her freedom. 'There's nothing so blissful as having my voice back and to make a difference,' she said. 'It's hard to explain how insanely good freedom feels. 'I've been skydiving. I just got my open water dive scuba licence with my daughter. I'm playing soccer three to four times a week, making new friends.' Where does that leave Ms Cheng now? 'I wish people would make informed judgements about China because right now we just have a lot of ignorant prejudice,' she said. 'People say, "Oh, well, China is all bad." Or they just conflate Chinese people and the CCP and China, the country. 'I want people to - and I wish more overseas Chinese people would - think about what it is to live here and how we should all protect the freedoms you can't experience in China.'
