With few buyers, Iranian oil fleet heads to China ahead of US sanctions

SINGAPORE/BEIJING: An unprecedented volume of Iranian crude oil is set to arrive at China's northeast Dalian port this month, and in early November before US sanctions on Iran take effect, data on Refinitiv Eikon showed on Thursday.

A total of 22 million barrels of Iranian crude oil loaded on supertankers owned by the National Iranian Tanker Co (NITC) are headed for Dalian, the data showed. Dalian typically receives between 1 million and 3 million barrels of Iranian oil each month, according to the data that dates back to January 2015.

Iran, the third-largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is finding fewer takers for its crude ahead of US sanctions on its oil exports that will take effect on November 4.

The country previously stored oil at Dalian during the last round of sanctions in 2014 that was later sold to buyers in South Korea and India. Some of the biggest refineries and commercial oil storage facilities in China are located in Dalian.

One of 11 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) - Dune - discharged oil into a bonded storage tank at the Xingang section of the Dalian port on October 8, Reuters reported last week, while a second VLCC Dino I switched off its transponder on October 13 near the port.