US' Iran-related sanctions on China refiners disrupt operations,

In another sign of trading disruption from the sanctions, two Asia-based oil product traders who had previously dealt with Luqing said they stopped doing so after it was sanctioned.

In addition, no shipments of gasoline blendstock have been recorded since the end of March out of Laizhou port, used by Luqing for most of its blendstock exports, Kpler and LSEG shiptracking data showed.

That contrasts with the first three months of this year when 83,000 tonnes (701,000 barrels) of methyl tertiary butyl ether, a key gasoline blendstock export, were shipped from Laizhou, accounting for 15 per cent of China's total outflow of the blendstock.