CNN examines Chinese independent refineries' role in Iran's oil trade

A CNN investigation describes how small independent refineries in Shandong province and elsewhere process sanctioned Iranian crude for China's domestic market. According to CNN, Iranian oil made up about 13% of China's seaborne imports before the war, worth roughly $32.5bn a year, and rose to 18% afterwards. It reports that four ports together received over 1.5 million barrels a day in March and April. CNN describes ship-to-ship transfers near Singapore by vessels with tracking switched off, after which cargoes are relabelled as Malaysian or Indonesian. Erica Downs of Columbia University told CNN the small refineries rely on discounts from sanctioned crude to survive.

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