China Lifts Refined Fuel Export Ban for July After Iran Oil Surge

China has decided to lift restrictions on refined fuel exports for the rest of July, a report said. The directive reverses a ban that took effect in March after the US-Iran war began. Some easing had been allowed from April onward. This is the first full resumption for major refiners.

The decision comes after Iran rushed out an estimated 40 million to 50 million barrels of oil in recent weeks. Most of that crude went to China, which before the war accounted for roughly 90% of Iran's oil shipments via its shadow fleet. Those flows ran at about 1.5 million barrels per day. Smaller volumes went to Japan and India.

The US had lifted oil sanctions on Iran earlier, allowing the surge. Those sanctions are now back in place after a Trump order, the report noted.

Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical Co., one of the world's biggest refiners, will be able to resume fuel exports for the first time in more than three months. The company had halted exports under the March ban.

The lifting is only for July. Restrictions could return in August or even later this month if the Strait of Hormuz situation worsens further, the report said.

Before the ban, China's refined fuel exports supplied Asian markets with diesel and gasoline.

The directive covers only July. No decision has been announced for August.