中國的伊朗石油進口因利潤微薄而減少，俄羅斯石油的誘惑

Recently Yahoo News on line reported the following:

China’s Iranian oil imports ease on poor margins, lure of Russian oil

Sun, May 8, 2022, 11:09 PM

By Chen Aizhu and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin

SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) - China's Iranian oil imports in April came off peak volumes seen in late 2021 and early 2022 as demand from independent refiners weakened after COVID-19 lockdowns pummelled fuel margins and on growing imports of lower-priced Russian oil.

The easing of Iranian oil purchases, which still make up some 7% of imports by the world's largest crude importer, came as Western diplomats have largely lost hope in reviving a 2015 nuclear pact while high oil prices emboldened Iran to take its time to return to an agreement.

A revived nuclear deal would allow Iran to boost its oil sales beyond China - Iran's number one customer for the past two years - to previous clients in South Korea and Europe.

Meanwhile, Russian crude, displaced by falling demand in Europe on growing concerns about sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, is heading to China. Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it called a "special operation".

Initial assessments by Vortexa Analytics showed China imported nearly 650,000 barrels per day of Iranian crude in April, slightly less than the nearly 700,000 bpd discharged in March.

Kpler, another data analytics firm, tentatively pegged Iran's April exports at 575,000 bpd, down from an average of 840,000 bpd in the first quarter of 2022, though the agency expected to revise up April volumes in coming weeks.

China's independent refiners, also known as teapots and situated mostly in the eastern province of Shandong, are key Iranian oil buyers. The refiners have since February reduced crude imports, operating under half their capacity in April as soaring prices, tighter import quotas and COVID lockdowns squashed margins, traders said.

"The Iranian barrels started having difficulties finding buyers since February, after independent plants cut throughput," said Emma Li, China analyst with Vortexa.

At least six cargoes of Iranian oil totaling eight million barrels have not been able to offload at Chinese ports, floating off Shandong and Zhejiang ports for more than three months, Li added.

In contrast, China's sea-borne crude imports from Russia jumped 16% in April from March to about 860,000 bpd, the highest since last December, Refinitiv data showed.

Though the April Russian supplies were dominated by its Far East export grade ESPO blend, the prospect of growing Urals cargoes being forced out of Europe is providing a new lure for the teapots.

At least one teapot refiner bought one June-arriving Urals cargo at a discount of $6 to $7 a barrel to Brent on delivered basis, traders said.

That compared with Iranian oil, transacted at $5 a barrel under Brent.

"Teapots are facing terrible margins and plentiful oil on offer. Dealing Iranian and Russian barrels both carries risks, so refiners would be careful and picking the cheaper supplies that offer relatively better margins," said a trading executive with a Shandong-based refiner.

To avoid U.S. sanctions, Iranian crude has been exported to China marked as oil from Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia, traders have said.

Aware of the Chinese purchases, U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has chosen not to enforce the sanctions against Chinese individuals and companies.

China's foreign ministry did not respond to request for comment. Iran's oil ministry also did not respond to a request for comment.

Chinese customs data last reported imports of 260,000 tonnes (1.9 million barrels) of Iranian oil each in December and January, in its first official record in a year.

Translation

新加坡/倫敦（路透社）- 中國 4 月份的伊朗石油進口量已脫離 2021 年底和 2022 年初的峰值，原因是 COVID-19 封鎖減弱獨立煉油廠需求, 打擊其油的利潤, 以及增加進口價格較低的俄羅斯石油增加。

伊朗石油採購量仍佔全球最大原油進口國進口量的 7% 左右，與此同時，西方外交官在很大程度上對恢復 2015 年的核協議失去了希望，而高油價讓伊朗有胆量去花多些時間去達成協議。

重新恢復核協議將使伊朗能夠將其石油銷售從中國（過去兩年伊朗的第一大客戶）擴大到韓國和歐洲的先前客戶。

與此同時，由於歐洲對俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭的日益擔憂的製裁，对俄羅斯原油需求下降，俄羅斯原油正流向中國。俄羅斯於 2 月 24 日在所謂的 “特別行動” 中向烏克蘭派出了數以萬計士兵。

Vortexa Analytics 的初步評估顯示，中國 4 月每天進口近 65 萬桶伊朗原油，略低於 3 月送出的近 70 萬桶/日。

另一家數據分析公司 Kpler 暫時將伊朗 4 月的出口量定為 57.5 萬桶/日，低於 2022 年第一季度的平均 84 萬桶/日，不過該機構預計將在未來幾週上調 4 月的出口量。

中國的獨立煉油廠，也被稱為茶壺，主要位於東部山東省，是伊朗石油的主要買家。交易商表示，自 2 月以來，煉油廠減少了原油進口，4 月以一半產能去運行，原因是價格飆升、進口配額收緊和 COVID 封鎖壓低了利潤率。

Vortexa 的中國分析師 Emma Li 表示： “自 2 月以來，在獨立工廠削減產量後，伊朗桶開始難以找到買家。”

Emma 補充說，至少有六批總計 800 萬桶的伊朗石油無法在中國港口卸貨，在山東和浙江港口海上等待了三個多月。

相比之下，Refinitiv 數據顯示，4 月中國從俄羅斯的海運原油進口量較 3 月增長 16%，至約 86 萬桶/日，為去年 12 月以來的最高水平。

儘管 4 月份的俄羅斯供應主要是其遠東出口級 ESPO 混合油，但展望越來越多的烏拉爾貨物會被迫離開歐洲, 為茶壺提供新的誘惑。

交易商稱，至少有一家茶壺煉油廠以每桶比布倫特原油低 6 至 7 美元的價格購買了一批 6 月運抵的烏拉爾原油。

與伊朗石油相比, 每桶低布倫特原油價格5 美元。

山東一家煉油廠的貿易主管表示: “茶壺面臨著糟糕的利潤和豐富的石油供應。交易伊朗和俄羅斯的油都存在風險，因此煉油商會小心選擇利潤相對較高的廉價供應” 。

貿易商稱，為避免美國製裁，伊朗原油出口到中國石油, 標為從阿曼、阿拉伯聯合酋長國和馬來西亞出口。

美國總統拜登政府意識到中國的採購，但選擇不對中國個人和公司實施制裁。

中國外交部沒有回應置評請求。伊朗石油部也沒有回應置評請求。

中國海關數據上一次報告稱，去年 12 月和 1 月分別進口了 26 萬噸（190 萬桶）伊朗石油，這是一年來的首次官方記錄。

            So, China's sea-borne crude imports from Russia jumps 16% in April compared to March, the highest since last December. It seems that China is buying more Russian crude oil and less Iranian oil.