China has taken its second cargo of Iranian oil since US waivers expired on 2 May, French data firm Kpler reported on Monday.
The HORSE, a VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier), owned by Iran's NITC (National Iranian Tanker Company), arrived at Sinopec's Tianjin refinery over the weekend, the company tweeted on Monday, referring to China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec).
The vessel has discharged 2 million barrels (2mb) of the Iranian crude, Kpler data shows.
Kpler is a French data intelligence firm mostly known for its ship tracking and cargo information services, which traders and analysts use to monitor global supply and demand changes for products like oil or Liquified Natural Gas (LNG).
Iran has not commented on the delivery. Iran’s Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh has told the media time and again that he avoids giving exact details of Iran’ oil exports due to the unilateral US sanctions.
The carrier left Iran’s Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf on 7 May, five days after the US sanctions waivers ended, according to Homayoun Falakshahi, a senior expert at Kpler.
Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, however, said the vessel departed Kharg Island (southeast berth of “Sea Island”) on 28 May.
This would be the second time that China buys Iranian oil after the end of sanctions waiver.
Earlier, Bourse and Bazaar reported late June that a tanker owned by the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) delivered oil to the Jinxi Refining and Chemical Complex in China, marking the first confirmed delivery of Iranian crude purchased after the Trump administration’s revocation of waivers permitting the sale of Iranian oil on May 2.