Iran’s oil exports to China won’t drop because of Trump: Expert

A revision of US sanctions on Iranian oil under incoming President Donald Trump would not significantly impact Tehran’s supply of oil to private buyers in China, according to a market analyst who once led international relations affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

Mohsen Qamsari said on Monday that private buyers in China have adapted themselves to crude oil grades supplied by Iran in the past years, adding that a change of supplier would not be as easy as reported by some sources in the market.

Qamsari made the remarks while speaking about a report published last week by the Bloomberg economic news website which suggested that Chinese refiners were seeking to replace Iranian and Russian imports with supplies from Africa as they fear that Trump’s approach to sanctions might be strict.

The report by Bloomberg said that private Chinese oil refinery Landbridge Petrochemical Co. had made a rare purchase of a shipment of West African oil instead of typical imports from sanctioned countries Iran and Russia.

Qamsari said the purchase was unrelated to Trump’s reelection earlier this month as  US president, adding that Chinese refiners would not be able to easily replace Iranian light and medium grades with light grades from West African suppliers.

“The amount of our oil exports would not change as long as China is the only consumer and purchaser of Iranian oil,” he said, adding that Iran might be able to find new markets for its oil as it seeks to open up to the world through diplomatic initiatives launched by its current administration.

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