China’s Iran oil imports fall in April
China's crude imports from Iran fell 4.3 percent in April from a
year earlier to 1.53 million metric tons, according to data
released today by the General Administration of Customs. Imports in
March were 1.73 million tons, Bloomberg reported.
China, Iran's top crude oil customer, bought nearly 2.0 million
tonnes of Iranian crude in February, equivalent to about 521,330
barrels per day (bpd), up 68 percent from 309,906 bpd in January,
according to data from the General Administration of Customs.
February crude imports from Iran rose 81 percent from 288,576 bpd a
year earlier.
The IEA said in its March report that new U.S. sanctions on Iran
implemented in February, which barred the country from repatriating
oil export earnings, appeared not to have had an impact on February
shipments.
U.S. and European Union sanctions aimed at choking the flow of oil
money into Iran and forcing Tehran to negotiate curbing its
disputed nuclear programme have cut around a million barrels per
day from Iran's crude exports.