China’s Sinopec Reroutes Supertanker from US-Sanctioned Port

The latest U.S. sanctions on a major Chinese crude oil terminal have forced refining group Sinopec to divert a supertanker and ask some plants to cut crude processing rates, according to ship tracking data and Chinese consultancies.

A supertanker carrying oil to the Chinese port of Rizhao in Shandong province changed its destination over the weekend after the U.S. imposed sanctions on an import terminal at the port on Friday, LSEG data showed.

Shortly after the U.S. announcement, Sinopec told about half a dozen subsidiary refineries that receive crude oil from the designated terminal to cut operation rates to 80% for the rest of October, Chinese consultancy Sublime China Information wrote in a market update late on Friday.

Another consultancy, JLC, estimated on Saturday that Sinopec's October runs may drop 3.36% from earlier plans to about 5.16 million barrels per day.

Sinopec did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

LSEG data showed the supertanker New Vista, chartered by Sinopec's trading arm Unipec and originally scheduled to discharge at Rizhao on Sunday, had switched its destination to the ports of Ningbo and Zhoushan for arrival on October 15.

The New Vista can carry 2 million barrels of crude and is