Chinese Refiners Buy More Iranian Oil As Competition For Russian Crude Heats Up

Many private Chinese refiners in the Shandong province are buying increasing volumes of Iranian crude as competition for Russian oil from China's major state-held refiners and from Indian buyers has made Moscow's barrels relatively more expensive. China's private refiners, the so-called teapots, are estimated to have imported 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude oil and condensate in March, up by 20% compared to February, Emma Li, an analyst with Vortexa, told Bloomberg. Imports from Iran into the Shandong province—home to most…