US sanctions China’s refinery for Iran ties
On March 20, 2025, the US ramped up its enforcement of sanctions on Iran by setting its sights on Chinese companies that are engaged in the processing and import of Iranian crude oil. Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical Co., Ltd., a privately owned “teapot” refinery in China’s Shandong province, and its CEO Wang Xueqing have been sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). It is the first time that the US has penalized a Chinese teapot refinery for such activities.
Luqing Petrochemical paid nearly $500 million for Iranian oil, including cargo from ships linked to Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, according to reports.
These transactions have been made possible by Iran’s “shadow fleet” of ships, which employ deceptive shipping techniques to evade detection.
Along with the refinery and its leader, the US Treasury sanctioned 19 companies and vessels that had shipped millions of barrels of Iranian oil to China. The move is a part of an overall “maximum pressure” strategy aimed at limiting Iran’s oil exports and disturbing financial flows potentially supporting terrorism and nuclear work.
The US State Department also imposed sanctions on Chinese oil terminal operator Huaying Huizhou Daya Bay Petrochemical Terminal Storage Co. for importing and storing Iranian crude oil from a sanctioned ship. The United States has criticized China, the largest buyer of Iranian oil in the world, for enabling Iran to continue subsidizing destabilizing activities through such acquisitions.
These actions reflect the US government’s willingness to sanction Iran and strike organizations that facilitate the country’s oil exports, especially those comprised of Chinese teapot refineries.
