Sinopec diverts supertanker from US-sanctioned port, ship tracking data shows

By Florence Tan SINGAPORE (Reuters) -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 currently carrying Abu Dhabi's Upper Zakum crude grade. The Rizhao Shihua Crude Oil Terminal, half-owned by a Sinopec logistics unit, was among the entities listed by the U.S. Treasury in a round of sanctions that also includes ships transporting Iranian crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas. The terminal, in the city of Lanshan in Shandong province, a major Chinese oil refining hub, was sanctioned for receiving Iranian oil on board sanctioned vessels, the U.S. said. One-fifth of Sinopec's crude oil imports pass through the Rizhao terminal, according to industry executives and analysts. (Reporting by Florence Tan and Trixie Yap; Additional reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Jan Harvey)

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