The Wednesday report by Bloomberg showed that Chinese intake of Iranian crude rose after a fresh round of import quotas was allocated late last month. The new allowances, earmarked for the so-called teapot refiners, are estimated at 7–8 million metric tons in total for nearly 20 plants.
The report said the quotas enabled two supertankers that had been idling near ports in southeastern Shandong province to finally unload their cargo this week, including a Panama-flagged vessel carrying 2 million barrels of Iranian oil that discharged at the port of Rizhao.
The report added Iran has also widened the discounts it offers to ensure continued supply to Chinese buyers.
China does not list Iranian crude volumes in its official customs data because of US sanctions. However, the country has been the largest buyer of Iranian oil since 2019, when Washington intensified restrictions on countries and companies importing crude from Iran.
Energy analytics firms estimate that China’s imports of Iranian oil have surged to historic highs of nearly 2 million barrels per day in recent months.
The flow of Iranian crude to China has remained stable despite the United Nations reimposing a series of nuclear-related sanctions on Iran in September.
