China’s Sinopec Halves Iran Oil Loadings Under US Pressure

China’s Sinopec Halves Iran Oil Loadings Under US Pressure
Oil tanks at a Sinopec plant in Hefei, Anhui Province, China on May 31, 2009. Jianan Yu/Reuters
|Updated:

BEIJING/SINGAPORE—China’s Sinopec Corp is halving loadings of crude oil from Iran this month, as the state refiner comes under intense pressure from Washington to comply with a U.S. ban on Iranian oil from November, said people with knowledge of the matter.

The sources did not specify volumes, but based on the prevailing supply contract between the top Chinese refiner and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), its loadings would be reduced to about 130,000 barrels per day (bpd).