European trader Vitol and Chinese Tianbao Petroleum Trading have chartered oil tankers to ship fuel oil from the Islamic Republic of Iran, Press TV reports.
Vitol has booked the Olympic Spirit II to ship more than 80,000 metric tons of fuel oil from Iran’s Bandar Mahshahr, Dow Jones reported.
According to oil traders, the Vitol shipment is part of a contract which was signed before January 23, 2012, when the European Union (EU) announced an oil embargo on Iran.
The report adds that the tanker Alberta has also been chartered by China's Tianbao to ship 80,000 tons of fuel oil from Iran’s Bandar Mahshahr on April 10, 2012.
Tianbao, a unit of the Chinese state-run trader Zhuhai Zhenrong, was reportedly placed under sanctions by the US in January for trading with Tehran.
China is the biggest buyer of the Iranian crude and figures released by US Department of Energy show that about 22 percent of Iranian oil exports go to the East Asian country.
Beijing has strongly opposed trade restrictions against Iran, saying that oil sanctions are not “constructive.”
The US and the EU have imposed tough financial and oil sanctions against Iran since the beginning of 2012, claiming that the country’s nuclear energy program includes a military component.
Tehran refutes their claims noting that frequent inspections by International Atomic Energy Agency have failed to prove any diversion in Iran's nuclear energy program toward military purposes.
Vitol has booked the Olympic Spirit II to ship more than 80,000 metric tons of fuel oil from Iran’s Bandar Mahshahr, Dow Jones reported.
According to oil traders, the Vitol shipment is part of a contract which was signed before January 23, 2012, when the European Union (EU) announced an oil embargo on Iran.
The report adds that the tanker Alberta has also been chartered by China's Tianbao to ship 80,000 tons of fuel oil from Iran’s Bandar Mahshahr on April 10, 2012.
Tianbao, a unit of the Chinese state-run trader Zhuhai Zhenrong, was reportedly placed under sanctions by the US in January for trading with Tehran.
China is the biggest buyer of the Iranian crude and figures released by US Department of Energy show that about 22 percent of Iranian oil exports go to the East Asian country.
Beijing has strongly opposed trade restrictions against Iran, saying that oil sanctions are not “constructive.”
The US and the EU have imposed tough financial and oil sanctions against Iran since the beginning of 2012, claiming that the country’s nuclear energy program includes a military component.
Tehran refutes their claims noting that frequent inspections by International Atomic Energy Agency have failed to prove any diversion in Iran's nuclear energy program toward military purposes.