Sanctioned Chinese Refiner Hengli Seeks West African and Middle East Crude While Saying Supply Unaffected

U.S. sanctions in April, Reuters reported Thursday citing trade sources. Hengli Petrochemical operates a refinery in Dalian with the capacity to process 400,000 barrels per day of crude.

U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control at the end of April. U.S. Sanctions. The company also said the sanctions had no factual or legal basis and it would seek to have them removed. Hengli Petrochemical has asked about potentially buying crude cargoes from West Africa or non-Iranian producers in the Middle East, according to multiple sources who spoke to Reuters.

The refiner has reportedly acquired at least 2 million barrels of crude from West Africa for delivery in late June-early July, some of the sources told the publication. Private Chinese refiners have been the biggest buyers of Iranian crude for years. U.S. Blacklist of Iranian oil buyers.