SINGAPORE : China's Shandong refining hub has begun releasing millions of barrels of oil that were stuck at ports after inspections curbed imports into the province, trading sources said following a meeting this week between officials and refiners.
Chinese customs had tightened tanker inspections after several Iranian cargoes were found mislabeled as diluted bitumen, or bitumen mixture, to bypass oil import quotas that Beijing tightly controls.The Shandong government and Chinese customs did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
Authorities agreed this week to allow shipments that meet several key specifications of bitumen mixture to resume clearing customs as normal, provided that refiners also declare that they use the fuel only for bitumen production, traders said. That means China's main intake of Venezuelan crude Merey, a typical feedstock long sought by Shandong plants for making road-paving bitumen, may resume normal inflows.