Page 8 - AsianOil Week 25
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AsianOil EAST ASIA AsianOil
China deepens oil, gas ties with Iran, North Korea
POLICY
Kpler estimates that China loaded 346,000 tonnes of Iranian LPG in May
CHINA appears to be deepening its energy ties with sanctions-bound Iran and North Korea amid a year-long trade dispute with the US.
Chinese importers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) secured at least ve supertankers of the fuel from Iran in May and June, according to data from Paris-based intelligence provider Kpler SAS.
“[Chinese buyers have] started using a vari- ety of techniques to hide their activity,” Kpler analyst Ilya Niklyaev told Bloomberg on June 19. “Like switching o transponders as well as intentionally signaling wrong destinations and indicating loading ports in Qatar, Saudi Arabia or the U.A.E.”
The US re-imposed all sanctions on Iran in November 2018 a er it withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. While it initially granted six-month waivers to eight oil importing coun- tries, including China, these were allowed to lapse on May 2 and have not been renewed. Kpler esti- mates that China loaded 346,000 tonnes of Iranian LPG in May, noting that depending on when it was loaded it might not have breached US sanctions.
Kpler noted that the LPG tanker Sea Dolphin, which is owned by state-run PetroChina unit Kun- lun Trading, entered the Persian Gulf on May 17 with empty tanks. Once there, however, it turned o its transponder until May 26, at which point its tanks were full. It then headed for the Maldives and turned o its transponder once more.
e Paci c Gas-owned Paci c Yantai LPG tanker is then understood to have lled up close
to the Sea Dolphin’s last known location before sailing to Ningbo, where it reportedly unloaded a partial cargo on June 14.
China is a vocal critic of the US’ sanctions on Tehran and has expressed support for the iso- lated regime. Iranian LPG is of particular interest to Chinese buyers, following Washington’s deci- sion to impose a 25% tari on exports of the fuel to China in August 2018.
US Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said on June 21 that Washington was also con- cerned China might be outing US sanctions targeting Iran’s oil exports. He added, however, that there was no evidence to support this con- cern. That public-facing uncertainty may be about to end, however, following recent analysis by TankerTrackers.com, which claims that the National Iranian Tanker Co. (NITC)-owned SALINA oil tanker arrived at PetroChina’s Jinxi re nery on June 20 carrying Iranian crude that was loaded a er May 2.
Allegations of China’s continued imports of Iranian LPG came shortly a er Reuters quoted unnamed diplomatic sources as saying China and Russia had put a “hold” on a US request for an immediate UN Security Council (UNSC) call to end oil product deliveries to North Korea.
Reuters said on June 18 that the US had told the committee in the rst half of June that there had been 79 illegal fuel deliveries – mainly via ship-to-ship transfers – since the start of the year. Washington claims North Korea has breached the UN-mandated cap of 500,000 barrels per year.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 25 26•June•2019
