U.S Sanctions China-Based Oil Refinery, 40 Shipping Companies & Tankers Transporting Iranian Oil

The U.S administration has imposed secondary sanctions on an oil refinery in China, along with 40 shipping companies and tankers involved in the transportation of Iranian Oil.

The move is a part of the administration’s effort to cut off Iran’s major source of revenue: its oil exports.

These sanctions come before U.S President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping are due to meet in Beijing.

Hengli Petrochemical’s facility in the port city of Dalian can process around 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day, making it one of the largest independent Chinese refineries.

The U.S Treasury Department said that Hengli has been receiving Iranian crude oil shipments since 2023, generating millions of dollars in revenue for Tehran.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday that his agency “will continue to constrict the network of vessels, intermediaries and buyers Iran relies on to move its oil to global markets.”

At the beginning of April, the Treasury Department sent letters to several financial institutions in Hong Kong, the UAE, China and Oman threatening to impose economic sanctions for doing business with Iran and blaming the countries for enabling Iran’s illegal activities to flow through their financial agencies.

During a meeting at the White House on April 15, Mr Bessent said that they told the countries, “that if you are buying Iranian oil, that if Iranian money is sitting in your banks, we are now willing to apply secondary sanctions, which is a very stern measure.”

Meanwhile, to stabilise oil prices, Trump has issued temporary sanction waivers on Russian oil and a one-time waiver on Iranian oil already at sea.