Latest news with #Kpler
Saba Yemen
4 hours ago
- Business
- Saba Yemen
China's Iranian oil imports rise to record high despite sanctions
Beijing – Saba: Analysts confirmed on Friday that China's Iranian oil imports rose significantly in June, driven by increased demand from independent refineries and accelerated shipments ahead of the recent Israeli aggression against Iran. Data from ship-tracking company Vortexa showed that China, the world's largest oil importer, received more than 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude between June 1 and 20, the highest level on record, according to the company's data, according to Reuters. The agency reported that global oil company Kpler indicated that imports of Iranian crude oil and condensate averaged 1.46 million bpd through June 27, compared to 1 million bpd in May, reflecting a significant increase in imported quantities. Analysts at both companies expect imports to remain at high levels, given that cargo loadings have continued at a robust pace since May. For his part, US President Donald Trump said last Wednesday that Washington had not retreated from its maximum pressure policy toward Iran, including restrictions on its oil exports. However, he indicated the possibility of limited relaxation in the implementation of sanctions, with the aim of "helping rebuild the country," as he put it. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
Asharq Al-Awsat
16 hours ago
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
China's Iran Oil Imports Surge in June on Rising Shipments, Teapot Demand
China's Iranian oil imports surged in June as shipments accelerated before the recent conflict in the region and demand from independent refineries improved, analysts said. The world's top oil importer and biggest buyer of Iranian crude brought in more than 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) from June 1-20, according to ship-tracker Vortexa, a record high based on the firm's data. Kpler's data put the month-to-date average of China's Iranian oil and condensate imports at 1.46 million bpd as of June 27, up from one million bpd in May. The rising imports are fueled in part by the accelerated discharge of high volumes of Iranian oil on the water after export loadings from Iran reached a multi-year high of 1.83 million bpd in May, Kpler data showed. It typically takes at least one month for Iranian oil to reach Chinese ports, Reuters reported. Robust loadings in May and early June mean China's Iran imports are poised to remain elevated, Kpler and Vortexa analysts said. Independent Chinese "teapot" refineries, the main buyers of Iranian oil, also showed strong demand for the discount barrels as their stockpiles depleted, said Xu Muyu, Kpler's senior analyst. A possible relaxing of US President Donald Trump's policy on Iranian oil sanctions could further bolster Chinese buying, she added. Trump said on Wednesday that Washington has not given up its maximum pressure campaign on Iran - including restrictions on Iranian oil sales - but signaled a potential easing in enforcement to help the country rebuild. For this week, Iranian Light crude oil was being traded at around $2 a barrel below ICE Brent for end-July to early-August deliveries, two traders familiar with the matter said, compared to discounts of $3.30-$3.50 a barrel previously for July deliveries. Narrower discounts were spurred by worries that oil flows could be disrupted through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway between Iran and Oman, traders said. Market fears for a closure of the chokepoint had escalated after last weekend's US attack on Iranian nuclear sites but eased after Iran and Israel on Tuesday signaled a ceasefire. Tighter discounts for Iranian oil come amid a retreat in futures prices. ICE Brent crude futures hovered at $68 per barrel on Friday, their level before the Israel-Iran conflict began and down 19% from Monday's five-month peak.
Reuters
17 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
China's Iran oil imports surge in June on rising shipments, teapot demand
SINGAPORE, June 27 (Reuters) - China's Iranian oil imports surged in June as shipments accelerated before the recent conflict in the region and demand from independent refineries improved, analysts said. The world's top oil importer and biggest buyer of Iranian crude brought in more than 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) from June 1-20, according to ship-tracker Vortexa, a record high based on the firm's data. Kpler's data put the month-to-date average of China's Iranian oil and condensate imports at 1.46 million bpd as of June 27, up from one million bpd in May. The rising imports are fuelled in part by the accelerated discharge of high volumes of Iranian oil on the water after export loadings from Iran reached a multi-year high of 1.83 million bpd in May, Kpler data showed. It typically takes at least one month for Iranian oil to reach Chinese ports. Robust loadings in May and early June mean China's Iran imports are poised to remain elevated, Kpler and Vortexa analysts said. Independent Chinese "teapot" refineries, the main buyers of Iranian oil, also showed strong demand for the discount barrels as their stockpiles depleted, said Xu Muyu, Kpler's senior analyst. A possible relaxing of U.S. President Donald Trump's policy on Iranian oil sanctions could further bolster Chinese buying, she added. Trump said on Wednesday that Washington has not given up its maximum pressure campaign on Iran - including restrictions on Iranian oil sales - but signalled a potential easing in enforcement to help the country rebuild. For this week, Iranian Light crude oil was being traded at around $2 a barrel below ICE Brent for end-July to early-August deliveries, two traders familiar with the matter said, compared to discounts of $3.30-$3.50 a barrel previously for July deliveries. Narrower discounts were spurred by worries that oil flows could be disrupted through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway between Iran and Oman, traders said. Market fears for a closure of the chokepoint had escalated after last weekend's U.S. attack on Iranian nuclear sites but eased after Iran and Israel on Tuesday signalled a ceasefire. Tighter discounts for Iranian oil come amid a retreat in futures prices. ICE Brent crude futures hovered at $68 per barrel on Friday, their level before the Israel-Iran conflict began and down 19% from Monday's five-month peak.
CNBC
17 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
China skirts U.S. sanctions as top buyer of Iranian oil — here's how, and why that's unlikely to change soon
For years, China has been buying discounted Iranian oil in bulk, and the U.S. sanctions on Tehran have barely put a dent in that trade, analysts said, thanks to a shadow supply chain of transshipment and a yuan-denominated payment system that bypasses the U.S. dollar. Chinese customs have not shown any oil shipped from Iran since July 2022. Ship tracking data from analytics firm Kpler, however, indicated China's Iranian crude imports have continued to rise since then, nearly doubling to 17.8 million barrels per day (mbd) in 2024 from the 2022 level. In the first five months of this year, those imports have remained at an elevated level of 6.8 mbd, little changed from the same period in 2024. China is still the largest consumer of Iranian crude by far. The U.S. Energy Information Administration suggested in a report in May that nearly 90% of Iran's crude oil and condensate exports continued to flow to China. Iran has faced some of the broadest sanctions the U.S. has imposed on any country as Washington sought to choke the regime's main source of revenue that was used to fund its nuclear program and militias such as Hamas and Hezbollah. The Trump administration has been actively imposing fresh sanctions on tankers involved in facilitating Iranian crude to China. Nonetheless, that has put a little dent on Iranian oil exports, said Brian Leisen, global energy strategist at RBC Capital Markets, who added that "the physical market has not seen any long-term impact to the flow of Iranian oil since the [Trump] administration took office." Iranian petroleum and petrochemical sales were estimated to have generated as much as $70 billion in 2023, according to a U.S. Congress report last year. Foreign oil buyers are drawn to Iranian petroleum exporters because they are often sold at a discount compared to Persian Gulf or price-capped Russian suppliers. Iranian Light oil was traded at about $6 to $7 cheaper than the United Arab Emirates Upper Zakum crude — a non-sanctioned grade and at similar quality as Iran Light — at $64 per barrel, Muyu Xu, senior oil analyst at Kpler told CNBC Thursday. China's independent refineries, known as "teapots," have in recent years been the major buyers of cheap Iranian crude, as big private refiners and state-owned firms still shun the sanctioned crude, multiple industry analysts said. These teapots often purchase Iranian crude on a delivered basis, meaning the sellers would arrange for carriage by sea to the place of delivery, shielding the Chinese buyers from the risk of transportation, Xu noted. While some Iranian cargoes are shipped directly from Iran to China, the majority undergo multiple ship-to-ship transfers, often in the Middle East Gulf or the Strait of Malacca, where Iranian oil transported by sanctioned vessels is transferred to non-sanctioned tankers before shipping to China. "[The] Middle East is a multi-origin oil market and if the cargo gets transported from ship to ship, it is not easy to trace once documents are switched," said Punit Oza, president at the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. Tankers loading in Iran would also do what's called "spoofing" — where they broadcast fake tanker route information to mask their involvement in this trade, analysts said. These payments are typically made in renminbi and through small U.S.-sanctioned banks, shielding the buyers from exposure to the U.S.-dollar dominated system, which avoids exposing China's large international banks to the risk of US sanctions. "Because there is no dollar exposure, being excluded from the SWIFT payments systems does not pose a large impediment for oil flows to continue," said Brian. SWIFT is the world's main international payment network, dominated by the greenback. The area to the East of Peninsula Malaysia has seen bustling ship-to-ship activity and is a "hot spot for Iranian oil," where crude oil gets transshipped onto other vessels before ending up in China, said Bridget Diakun, senior risk and compliance analyst at Lloyd's List Intelligence. "I've seen a lot of tankers spoofing their location off Malaysia recently, with these ships taking an additional precaution to hide the ship-to-ship and obfuscate the origin of cargo," Diakun said. As the U.S. continued to intensify sanctions, Iranian oil owners and shipping operators would take additional steps to make the supply chain "more complicated and tracking vessels more confusing" in order to carry on with these trades, Diakun added. China's crude imports from Malaysia increased significantly last year to 1.4 million barrels per day from 1.1 million barrels per day in 2023, which exceeded Malaysia's domestic crude oil production of around 0.6 million, according to EIA. U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this week surprised markets with a post on Truth Social that China can continue to purchase Iranian oil, in an apparent disregard of his earlier policies to squelch Iran's oil exports. U.S. crude oil prices tumbled 6% following his comment. A senior White House official later clarified to CNBC that Trump's comments do not indicate a relaxation of U.S. sanctions. Kpler's Xu saw Trump's remarks as a "calculated trade-off," aimed at encouraging Iran to uphold the ceasefire and re-engage in nuclear talks, while signaling "goodwill" to China ahead of the next round of trade negotiations. "It is now too early to say whether this points to a potential waiver on Iranian sanctions," she said, noting the possibility of Washington slowing the pace of new sanctions — which would further support such purchases by Chinese teapots. While there is still "no clear conclusion for Iran despite ceasefire, for the physical oil market, we expect oil exports to continue as usual," RBC's Brian noted. Speaking at a news conference at the NATO summit this week, Trump said Iran is "going to need money to put that country back into shape," raising hopes that an easing of the "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran could be on the table.
Time of India
21 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Satellite Chemical, Vinmar get US govt letters preventing ethane unloading in China
Ethane traders Satellite Chemical USA and Vinmar International have received US government letters allowing them to load ethane on vessels destined for China but prohibiting unloading ethane in China without authorisation, sources familiar with the matter said. The letters received Wednesday from the US Department of Commerce follow a licensing requirement imposed several weeks ago on ethane exports to China, stalling shipments and leading vessels to drift or anchor around the US Gulf Coast. The letter could be perceived as the administration preparing to lift the restriction, industry sources and analysts said. Even so, there would likely still be some reluctance to load ethane - which is extracted from US shale gas and primarily used as a petrochemical feedstock - as China-bound vessels could be stuck in limbo depending on how long the full-path restriction plays out, said AJ O'Donnell, an analyst at Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. The US also sent similar letters to Enterprise Products Partners and Energy Transfer on Wednesday, Reuters reported exclusively. China's Satellite Chemical Co Ltd, the parent of Satellite Chemical USA, and Vinmar declined to comment. Around half of all US ethane exports head to China, and the halt in flows has pushed ethane prices lower on worries of domestic oversupply. The restrictions are likely to cut into profits of top ethane producers. Supertanker Gas Bluebonnet loaded for China's Satellite Chemicals at Energy Transfer's Nederland facility in Texas on June 12 and was near the Panama Canal on Thursday, ship tracking data on LSEG and Kpler showed. At least nine other tankers were drifting or anchored along the US Gulf, while two were moored at loading docks. In the near term, export terminal operators such as Energy Transfer and Enterprise could benefit as they can push their buyers to load at the docks, industry sources said. Still, Enterprises Morgan Point dock near Houston could see lower volumes as a result of the ethane restrictions, Tudor Pickering Holt & Co's O'Donnell said. Chinese petrochemical firms use ethane, extracted from natural gas, as a feedstock because it is a cheaper alternative than naphtha, while US oil and gas producers need China to buy their natural gas liquids as domestic supply exceeds demand.
