Following the intensification of sanctions against Iran, China’s small refineries have stopped purchasing Iranian oil.
In the wake of intensified U.S. sanctions against buyers of Iranian oil, reports indicate that China has refrained from placing new orders for Iranian crude oil.
According to the specialized website Kpler, even small private Chinese refineries, known as teapots, have not made any new purchases.
This action comes after the U.S. government sanctioned a refinery located in Shandong for the first time.
Experts view this event as a sign of Washington’s intensified maximum pressure policy against Iran’s oil exports.
According to this report, since the beginning of the Iranian calendar year 1404, no new deals for purchasing Iranian oil have been reported.
Additionally, the price of Iranian light oil in the Chinese market has significantly decreased.
Before the recent sanctions were imposed, this type of oil was sold about $8 less than the price of Brent crude, but now this price difference has reached $15.
In late March 2024, the U.S. Department of State announced that it had sanctioned the Huaying Huizhou Dayabay Petrochemical storage terminal in China for purchasing and storing Iranian crude oil from a sanctioned ship.