{"id":6271,"date":"2026-04-25T09:35:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T09:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/04\/25\/us-sanctions-chinas-teapot-refinery-for-buying-iranian-oil\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T09:35:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T09:35:22","slug":"us-sanctions-chinas-teapot-refinery-for-buying-iranian-oil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/04\/25\/us-sanctions-chinas-teapot-refinery-for-buying-iranian-oil\/","title":{"rendered":"US sanctions China\u2019s \u2018teapot\u2019 refinery for buying Iranian oil"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>The Hengli refinery, China\u2019s second-largest, has generated hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran\u2019s military, the US Treasury says.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>The United States has sanctioned a Chinese oil refinery for buying hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian oil.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/4\/24\/us-envoys-head-to-pakistan-raising-hopes-of-peace-talks-with-irans-araghchi\">potential new talks<\/a> on ending the US-Israeli war on Iran, the US Treasury Department on Friday said that it was targeting Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery, China\u2019s second-largest \u201cteapot\u201d or independent refinery.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/4\/3\/how-chinas-teapot-refineries-are-cushioning-it-from-iran-war-oil-crisis\">How China\u2019s \u2018teapot\u2019 refineries are cushioning it from Iran war oil crisis<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/economy\/2025\/6\/24\/fragile-iran-israel-ceasefire-calms-oil-markets\">Fragile Iran-Israel ceasefire calms oil markets<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/4\/24\/iran-iraq-tanker-war-redux-why-the-strait-of-hormuz-crisis-is-different\">Iran-Iraq Tanker War redux? Why the Strait of Hormuz crisis is different<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/economy\/2026\/4\/24\/trump-government-extends-jones-act-waiver-by-90-days-to-dampen-oil-prices\">Trump government extends Jones Act waiver by 90 days to dampen oil prices<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Hengli is \u201cone of Tehran\u2019s most valued customers\u201d and has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the Iranian military through crude oil purchases, the Treasury added.<\/p>\n<p>It also imposed new sanctions on about 40 shipping firms and vessels alleged to be operating as part of Iran\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/1\/23\/us-sanctions-iran-shadow-fleet-it-says-fuels-violent-protest-crackdown\">shadow fleet<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Chinese embassy in Washington, DC pushed back against the move.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe call \u200con the US to stop politicising trade and sci-tech issues and using them as a weapon and a tool and stop abusing various kinds of sanction to hit Chinese companies,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p>China gets more than half of its oil from the Middle East, and last year purchased more than 80 percent of Iran\u2019s shipped oil, according to analytics firm Kpler.<\/p>\n<p>The US Navy has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/4\/24\/how-long-can-iran-survive-the-uss-hormuz-blockade\">blockaded<\/a> Iranian ports since April 13, in what President Donald Trump claims is a bid to further choke Iran\u2019s proceeds from oil and gas exports.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"teapots-under-pressure\">Teapots under pressure<\/h2>\n<p>China\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/4\/3\/how-chinas-teapot-refineries-are-cushioning-it-from-iran-war-oil-crisis\">teapot\u201d refineries<\/a> are small, privately owned refineries, mostly based in Shandong province and nicknamed for their teapot-like shape.<\/p>\n<p>They play a key role in beefing up China\u2019s oil supplies by importing and stockpiling discounted Iranian and Russian oil \u2013 while allowing state-owned enterprises to remain more insulated from politically risky oil trading.<\/p>\n<p>US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pledged Friday to continue targeting the \u201cnetwork of vessels, intermediaries, and buyers Iran relies on to move its oil to global markets\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAny person or vessel facilitating these flows \u2013 through covert trade and finance \u2013 risks exposure to US sanctions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Aside from the prospect of sanctions, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/3\/1\/us-israel-attacks-on-iran-death-toll-and-injuries-live-tracker\">US-Israel war<\/a> on Iran has increased financial pressures for teapot refineries, which are facing \u201chigh replacement prices in a market already strained by global tensions\u201d, Brussels-based economic think tank Bruegel reported last month.<\/p>\n<p>Even before the war began, the Trump administration was targeting China\u2019s independent refineries.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, the Treasury sanctioned Hebei Xinhai Chemical Group, Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical and Shandong Shengxing Chemical.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Hengli refinery, China\u2019s second-largest, has generated hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran\u2019s military, the US Treasury says. The United States has sanctioned a Chinese oil refinery for buying hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian oil. Ahead of potential new talks on ending the US-Israeli war on Iran, the US Treasury Department &#8230; <a title=\"US sanctions China\u2019s \u2018teapot\u2019 refinery for buying Iranian oil\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/04\/25\/us-sanctions-chinas-teapot-refinery-for-buying-iranian-oil\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about US sanctions China\u2019s \u2018teapot\u2019 refinery for buying Iranian oil\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}