TEHRAN – Iran has delivered a new shipment of nearly two million barrels of crude oil to China’s southern Zhanjiang port over the past week, Reuters reported, citing shipment tracking sources.

According to shipping tracking specialist Vortexa Analytics, the 260,000-ton cargo, carried by vessel Dorena which is owned by the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) is said to be destined for state reserves. 

The arrival of the new shipment indicates that Iranian crude oil exports to China have been continuing in large volumes despite claims that increased Russian supply of crude to China has affected Iranian shipments.

The said cargo would be the fourth such shipment designated for state reserves since last December.

While China has been making sporadic official imports of Iranian oil, its private refineries over the past two years have also been buying large amounts of Iranian oil despite the United States’ sanctions on the country’s oil exports.

EF/MA