Unipec diverts a supertanker from Shandong Port after US sanctions

Written by Florence Tan

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A supertanker carrying oil to the Chinese port of Rizhao in Shandong province changed its destination from there over the weekend after the United States imposed sanctions on an import terminal at the port on Friday, LSEG data showed.

The very large oil tanker New Vista, chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, known as Sinopec, diverted to the ports of Ningbo and Zhoushan to arrive on October 15, LSEG data showed.

The New Vista ship was originally scheduled to be launched in Rizhao on Sunday, data showed. The ship can carry two million barrels of crude oil and is currently carrying Upper Zakum oil in Abu Dhabi.

Sinopec did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Rizhao Shihua crude oil terminal, half-owned by a logistics unit of Sinopec, was among the entities listed by the US Treasury Department in a round of sanctions that also includes ships transporting Iranian crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas, as well as an independent Chinese refinery.

The United States said that the terminal, located in the city of Lanshan in Shandong Province, a major Chinese oil refining center, was imposed with sanctions for receiving Iranian oil on board sanctioned ships.

Sinopec handles a fifth of its crude oil imports at the Rizhao terminal, according to industry executives and analysts.

(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)