China’s Oil Imports From Venezuela Fell in July on US Sanctions

China’s Oil Imports From Venezuela Fell in July on US Sanctions
A crude oil tanker is seen at Qingdao Port, Shandong province, China, April 21, 2019. (Jason Lee/Reuters)
Reuters
8/26/2019
Updated:
8/26/2019
BEIJING—China’s crude oil imports from Venezuela plunged 62 percent in July from the previous month, the latest Chinese customs data showed, as growing tension between Washington and the Maduro government made buyers wary of taking oil from the South American exporter.
Arrivals of crude oil from Venezuela were 703,742 tonnes last month, or 165,720 barrels per day (bpd), data from the General Administration of Customs showed. That is down from 275,646 bpd in June.
With U.S. sanctions on Venezuela having already driven away many of its oil buyers, the Trump administration in early August kept up the pressure by threatening sanctions on any company that works with Maduro’s government.
Venezuela’s oil exports fell 17.5 percent in July to their second-lowest since Washington imposed the sanctions in January, according to internal data from the company and Refinitiv Eikon.
China National Petroleum Corp., a leading buyer of Venezuelan oil, has halted loadings in August amid concerns over potential hits by the secondary sanctions.
Refinitiv Oil Research showed only three cargos, carrying a total 540,000 tonnes of crude, have left for China from Venezuela so far this month, half of the figure in July.
For the first seven months of the year, China’s imports of Venezuela crude oil fell 13.4 percent from a year earlier to 9.37 million tonnes, or 322,601 bpd.
Crude shipments from Iran rose in July to 926,119 tonnes, or 218,086 bpd, despite U.S. sanctions on the country. Last week, Reuters exclusively reported that a China-owned oil tanker, cited by the U.S. government as carrying Iranian oil, changed names in an apparent effort to evade U.S. sanctions.
Saudi Arabia remained China’s top oil supplier last month. It sold 6.99 million tonnes, or 1.65 million bpd, to China, customs data showed.

Imports of U.S. crude doubled in July from a month earlier at 1.5 million tonnes. But shipments for the January-July period fell 63.4 percent from year-ago levels to 3.65 million tonnes or 125,745 bpd, as the lingering Sino-U.S. trade dispute hampered oil business between the two countries.

China on Aug. 23 said it would impose tariffs on U.S. crude oil imports for the first time, by 5 percent from Sept. 1, as its latest retaliatory measures after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to slap a 10 percent tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports.

Trump soon lashed back by heaping an additional 5 percent on existing duties on roughly $550 billion in targeted Chinese goods.