China’s oil imports from Iran increased by around 50% in the first half of 2011 compared to the same period the year before, the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China announced this week.
China imported 650,000 barrels of Iranian oil per day in June, a jump of 53% from May, according to a report from the state-backed Iranian Mehr news agency.
Iran was the third largest oil supplier to China in the first half of 2011, after Saudi Arabia and Angola.
Saudi Arabia exported more than 24.1 million tons of oil to China and Angola supplied the Asian country 15.5 million tons of crude in the first six months of 2011.
China imported 280,104 tons of naphtha from Iran from January 2011 to June 2011, which shows a 280% rise in comparison to the same period in 2010. Iran is the second leading exporter of naphtha to China, according to Mehr.
Iran’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) exports to China in the first half of 2011 hit 352,130 tons, which is an increase of 72% compared to the same period last year. Chinese demand for Iranian oil has been spurred by internal growth and sanctions against Iran which have led the country to sell it’s oil at a discount.
Meanwhile, the oil export dispute between India and China rumbles on. Unless India can find alternative payment terms that do not breach internationals sanctions, Iran will stop sending 400,000 barrels of oil per day to India next month.
Oil markets appear relaxed, which Clyde Russell, a Reuters market analyst, attributes to an assumption that Saudi oil will fill the resultant supply gap.
