Recently Yahoo news on-line reported the following:
China’s Binge on Iranian Oil in Focus Following Tanker
Seizures
Bloomberg News
Bloomberg Wed., January 27, 2021, 10:39 p.m.
(Bloomberg) -- An increase in Iranian oil exports to China has received some unwanted attention in recent days and is now prompting fears of a clampdown.
Indonesia seized two vessels -- one of which was Iranian-flagged -- on Sunday that were transferring oil at sea, a common way to disguise the origin of cargoes. That came after Washington issued a seizure order for what it believes is 2 million barrels of Iranian crude on board a tanker heading to the U.S.
The actions have highlighted a jump in Iranian oil production that’s happening amid speculation President Joe Biden will take a softer approach to the country than his predecessor, who imposed sanctions in an attempt to get Tehran to renegotiate a nuclear pact. Companies including Kpler, Petro-Logistics SA and SVB International LLC have all reported seeing an increase in shipments.
China is the fastest-growing importer of the oil both directly and via ship transfers and co-mingling of Iranian crude with other Persian Gulf varieties, Citigroup Inc. analysts including Ed Morse said in a note. Tanker tracking groups have reported Iranian weekly crude exports rising to more than 1 million barrels a day at times even before the end of last year, Citi said.
The purchases of Iranian crude -- sometimes branded as Omani oil -- have depressed Oman crude prices on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, traders said. There’s been an uptick in buying inquiries for alternative Brazilian grades in the past week and an improvement in offer prices, they said.
While the exact volumes of Chinese purchases are hard to pin down, the country has kept buying cargoes from Iran and Venezuela, which has also had access to its oil restricted by the U.S. Domestic refiners that continue to buy sanctioned crude tend to keep a low profile for fear of being singled out and cut off from the American banking system, according to the traders.
China imported 519,000 metric tons of Iranian crude in December, almost double that in October and November, according to customs data. It hasn’t bought any Venezuelan oil since September 2019, the official figures show. Purchases from Malaysia, some of which may have been from ship-to-ship transfers, exceeded 1 million tons in November and December.
Iran is starting the year as the “biggest wildcard” for oil prices, Citigroup’s Morse said in the note. There’s unlikely to be a renegotiation of the nuclear deal or sanctions relief from the U.S. until August when a new Iranian government is in place after elections in May, he said.
Translation
印尼週日拘留了兩艘正在海上轉移石油的船隻，其中一艘是懸掛伊朗國旗的，這是掩蓋貨物來源的一種常見方式。在此之前，華盛頓方面發布了扣押令，認為一艘油輪上的200萬桶伊朗原油正在前往美國。
這些行動突顯出伊朗石油產量的大幅增長，這是因為外界猜測，美國總統喬·拜登將對該國採取比他的前任更柔和的態度，前任作出制裁是為了迫使德黑蘭重新談判核協議。一些公司包括Kpler,
Logistics SA和SVB
International LLC均報告指出運貨量增加。
花旗集團（Citigroup
Inc.）分析師包括Ed
Morse在內在一份通告中稱，中國是直接或通過船舶轉讓,以及透過混合伊朗原油與其他波斯灣石油品種,
而成為石油增長最快的進口國。花旗稱，油輪跟踪組通告稱甚至在去年年底之前，石油单日数量有時甚至超過了100萬桶。
交易商稱，購買伊朗原油（有時被冠以阿曼石油的商標）壓低了迪拜商品交易所的阿曼原油價格，他們說, 過去一周購買巴西原油作代替品的詢盤有所增加，報價也有所上漲，。
儘管很難確定中國的確切採購量，但該國一直在從伊朗和委內瑞拉購買物品，有機会接觸伊朗和委內瑞拉已受美國所限制的石油。交易員稱，由於擔心自己會被单挑出受查而隔離出美國銀行體系, 中國國內繼續購買經認可的原油的煉油廠,往往保持低調。
根據海關數據，中國去年12月進口了519,000公噸伊朗原油，幾乎是10月和11月的兩倍。官方數據顯示，自2019年9月以來，該國從未購買過任何委內瑞拉石油。從馬來西亞購買, 部分來自船到船的轉運，在11月和12月超過了100萬噸。
花旗集團的Morse在報告中稱，伊朗將在今年的開始成為油價的“最大無法預測因素” 。他說, 伊朗在五月份大選後新政府成立後，要直到8月才可能重新談判核協議, 或被美國解除製裁。
So, China
is increasing its import of Iranian oil and the political situation in Iran
could be a factor of oil price in 2021. It is the first time for me to know
that Brazilian grades are popular for the Chinese.
Note:
According to people in the crude oil trade, Brazilian grades
remain popular across China, with output of Buzios to double at the end of 2019.
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