Beijing: In a comeback move to crude oil imports from the Islamic Republic, China imported 120,000 barrels per day of oil from Iran in July after reporting no oil imports for June, Russia Today reported.
China’s imports from Iran, as reported by the customs data, correspond with data provided by data intelligence company Kpler to Radio Farda, the report added.
Kpler data showed that to cover up the origin of Iranian oil going to China, one tanker, the Giessel, labeled as Indonesian oil.
It came to notice after a media investigation found that the tanker was one of four oil tankers that the Caribbean island state of St. Kitts & Nevis stripped of its flag. To skirt the US sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, 15 tankers under various flags had manipulated their trackers.
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China’s oil imports from Iran averaged 77,000 bpd between January and July this year. The data was nine times lower than the figures China had reported before the US re-imposed sanctions on Iran’s oil industry and exports, the rt reported, citing Chinese customs data reports.
However, China is receiving much more oil from Iran in reality than the official figures report.
