Unipec diverts supertanker from Shandong port after US sanctions

By Florence Tan SINGAPORE (Reuters) -A supertanker carrying oil to the Chinese port of Rizhao in Shandong province changed its destination from there over the weekend after the U.S. imposed sanctions on an import terminal at the port on Friday, LSEG data shows. The Very Large Crude Carrier New Vista, chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, known as Sinopec, switched its destinations to the ports of Ningbo and Zhoushan for arrival on October 15, the LSEG data showed. The New Vista was originally scheduled to discharge at Rizhao on Sunday, the data showed. The ship can carry 2 million barrels of crude and is currently carrying Abu Dhabi's Upper Zakum oil. Sinopec did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 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, as well as an independent Chinese refinery. 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. Sinopec handles one-fifth of its crude oil imports at the Rizhao terminal, according to industry executives and analysts. (Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

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