{"id":3708,"date":"2023-02-16T14:54:07","date_gmt":"2023-02-16T14:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/roydadnaft.ir\/English\/?p=3708"},"modified":"2023-02-16T14:54:09","modified_gmt":"2023-02-16T14:54:09","slug":"u-s-steps-up-efforts-to-sanction-iranian-crude-oil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roydadnaft.ir\/English\/3708\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Steps Up Efforts To Sanction Iranian Crude Oil"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The U.S. is stepping up efforts to enforce sanctions on Iran\u2019s energy exports.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world\u2019s largest crude importer and main customer of Iranian oil, China, is seeking increasingly closer ties with Iran while the United States steps up pressure on the Islamic Republic\u2019s oil exports.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinese President Xi Jinping\u00a0pledged\u00a0to continue to develop \u201cfriendly cooperation\u201d with Iran during a visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Beijing this week.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cXi stressed that China supports Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national dignity, supports Iran in resisting unilateralism and bullying, and opposes external forces interfering in Iran\u2019s internal affairs and undermining Iran\u2019s security and stability,\u201d according to a readout of the talks reported by Chinese news agency Xinhua. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The visit of Raisi to China \u2013 the first of an Iranian president in many years \u2013 comes less than a week after the U.S.\u00a0stepped up efforts\u00a0to pressure Iran\u2019s revenues by sanctioning nine companies for producing, selling, and shipping Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals in Asia.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of the Treasury\u2019s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)\u00a0sanctioned\u00a0six Iran-based petrochemical manufacturers or their subsidiaries and three firms in Malaysia and Singapore involved in facilitating the sale and shipment of petroleum and petrochemicals.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Biden Administration will not hesitate to take action against sanctions evaders, and we are determined to step up our enforcement in light of Iran\u2019s continued, alarming nuclear advances,\u201d Robert Malley, the U.S. Administration\u2019s special envoy for Iran,\u00a0said, commenting on the latest round of sanctions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChina is the main destination of illicit exports by Iran,\u201d Malley told\u00a0Bloomberg Television\u00a0last month, adding that discussions with China would be \u201cintensified\u201d to dissuade it from buying Iranian oil.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s no secret that the bulk of Iran\u2019s oil exports are going to China via a dark fleet of tankers or the falsification of documents to pass off the crude as originating from countries other than Iran, most recently from Malaysia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent weeks, signs have emerged that Iran has boosted its oil exports, especially to China. At the end of 2022, Iranian exports are estimated by vessel-tracking companies to have\u00a0exceeded 1 million barrels per day\u00a0(bpd) and are even believed to have hit 1.3 million bpd in November, the highest levels since 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China imported record volumes of Iranian crude in December 2022, while Iran\u2019s crude and condensate exports reached a record high under sanctions in the last month of 2022, Armen Azizian, Crude Market Analyst at Vortexa, said in a\u00a0report\u00a0in January.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Russia aggressively pushing to sell its crude in China after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Western embargoes on Russia\u2019s oil, tankers switched from shipping Iranian oil to trade with Russian crude. However, the fourth quarter of 2022 saw net fleet additions to the Iranian trade in oil, Azizian said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, during the meeting with the Iranian president in Beijing on Tuesday, Xi said that \u201cChina will unswervingly develop friendly cooperation with Iran, push for new development of the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership, and play a positive role in world peace and human progress.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

China and Iran will aim to \u201cdeepen practical cooperation on trade, agriculture, industry and infrastructure,\u201d Xi said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Iranian president\u2019s visit to China comes just two months after Xi visited Iran\u2019s\u00a0regional rival, Saudi Arabia.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In early December, the Chinese president met with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh and vowed to expand oil trading between the nations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChina will increase communication and coordination with Saudi Arabia on energy policy, expand the scale of crude oil trade, enhance cooperation on exploration and development, and deliver on the Sino-Saudi Gulei Ethylene Complex Project and other large-scale energy cooperation projects,\u201d Xi said while in Saudi Arabia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe two sides commended their oil trade volume and the great foundations of the cooperation due to the Kingdom\u2019s ample oil resources and China\u2019s broad markets,\u201d\u00a0a joint\u00a0statement\u00a0at the end of the Saudi-Chinese summit in December read.\u00a0

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com<\/p>\n

Updated on