The discussion revolves around the prohibition of docking, unloading, or providing vessel services to ships listed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
According to Kpler's vessel tracking system, the province imported approximately 1.74 million barrels of oil per day from Iran, Russia, and Venezuela last year, which accounts for about 17% of China's imports.
Sources from the agency noted that the ban is likely to slow down oil imports into China and increase shipping costs for independent oil refiners, who are the primary buyers of sanctioned Iranian, Russian, and Venezuelan oil. However, the impact on such enterprises will be "limited," as most of the sanctioned oil is transported by tankers that are not subject to restrictions.
The ban followed the unloading of the sanctioned tanker Eliza II at the port of Yantai in early January, as highlighted by Reuters.
The Shandong port did not respond to the agency's requests for comments.