US Sanctions Chinese Refinery & Shadow Fleet For Buying Iranian Oil Worth Over $1B

The United States has imposed fresh sanctions on a Chinese refinery and several companies and vessels for their involvement in purchasing and transporting Iranian crude oil, which Washington says helps fund Iran’s government and terrorist groups.

On April 16, 2025, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it has sanctioned Shandong Shengxing Chemical Co, Ltd, a China-based independent “teapot” refinery.

The refinery, located in China’s Shandong Province, purchased over $1 billion worth of Iranian oil. According to OFAC, some of this oil was supplied through a front company connected to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).

The Treasury Department stated that between March 2020 and January 2023, Shandong Shengxing transferred more than $800 million to China Oil and Petroleum Company Ltd (COPC), an IRGC-QF front company.

COPC was responsible for facilitating the sale of Iranian crude oil and laundered billions of dollars through the US financial system.

US authorities have seized $108 million from these transactions. This marks OFAC’s second sanction against an independent Chinese refinery for Iranian oil trade and the sixth round of sanctions targeting Iranian oil sales since the issuance of National Security Presidential Memorandum 2 (NSPM-2) by President Trump on February 4, 2025.

The new sanctions also target several vessels and companies forming part of Iran’s shadow fleet which uses deceptive shipping practices to deliver Iranian oil to buyers, primarily in China.

The newly sanctioned vessels are listed below:

Reston (IMO 9265744): In early 2025, the Cameroon-flagged vessel received over 1 million barrels of Iranian oil through ship-to-ship transfers with already-sanctioned tankers WEN YAO (IMO 9288095) and FIONA (IMO 9365752).

BESTLA (IMO 9295593): A Panama-flagged vessel that received around 2 million barrels of Iranian oil via transfer from the sanctioned ATILA (IMO 9233753), previously known as HECATE.

EGRET (IMO 9283801): Carried out a ship-to-ship transfer of Iranian crude with the sanctioned DUNE, a tanker operated by the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), near Indonesia in early 2025.

NYANTARA (IMO 9242120): Received several hundred thousand barrels of oil from the SALVIA in early 2025.

RANI (IMO 9250907): Transported Iranian oil from the sanctioned DERYA and delivered it to China.

In total, these vessels are reported to have carried billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petroleum. OFAC has also sanctioned multiple companies involved in managing and owning these tankers:

• Oceanic Orbit Incorporated (Panama)- Owner of the RESTON
• Pro Mission SDN BHD (Malaysia)- Operator, manager, and technical manager of the RESTON
• Bestla Company limited (Marshall Islands)- Owner and commercial operator of the BESTLA
• Dexiang Shipping Co, ltd (Hong Kong)-Owner of the EGRET
• Civic Capital Shipping (Panama)- Owner of NYANTARA
• Starboard Shipping (Panama)- Owner of RANI

All the above companies are designated for operating in the petroleum sector of the Iranian economy. The associated vessels have been identified as blocked properties in which these companies have an interest.

Reference: US Department of State

Source: Maritime Shipping News