UANI

China International United Petroleum and Chemical Co. is a subsidiary of SINOPEC

"Iran is poised to lose at least 192,000 barrels a day of crude-supply contracts, or about 9.5 percent of its global exports, as Asian buyers curb purchases amid western sanctions targeting the nation's oil trade. Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL) and Essar Oil Ltd., India's biggest buyers of Iranian crude, and China International United Petroleum & Chemical Co. have reduced or plan to cut purchases from the Islamic Republic by as much as 15 percent. China and India are Iran's largest customers. In Japan, the only Asian country to get an exemption from U.S. sanctions after it demonstrated reductions in purchases, Cosmo Oil Co. plans to cut imports by 25 percent, while JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. suspended talks with the Persian Gulf nation over a 10,000 barrel-a-day contract." (Bloomberg, "Iran May Lose 9.5% of Oil Contracts as Asian Buyers Cut Imports," 5/3/12)

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"China's top refiner Sinopec Corp will in January buy less than half the crude it typically imports from Iran, trade sources said on Monday, as the two haggle over terms against a backdrop of rising international pressure on Tehran... Sinopec instructed Zhenrong to make the cut, the source said. Zhenrong has a deal to buy from Iran and deliver the crude to Sinopec refineries in China. Sinopec last week also cut the volumes it imports under a second, direct deal with NIOC. It has reduced imports for January by around 165,000 bpd, industry sources told Reuters last week. The two sides disagree over the period given to Sinopec to pay for the oil, sources said. Sinopec requested a 90 day credit period, while Iran wants the refiner to pay in 60 days. For 2011 term contracts payment terms were on a mix of 60 and 90 days, depending on which refinery was taking the crude... Though the cuts of 285,000 bpd make up less than 6 percent of China's total daily crude imports of 5 million bpd, Sinopec will need to fill the gap from alternative sources. One could be Libya, from which Sinopec bought a total of 2 million barrels for December or January lifting, after a halt for more than half a year due to the civil war there, traders said. Huang Wensheng, spokesman for both the parent company and the listed arm Sinopec Corp, said he was not aware of the cuts so could not comment. 'Our trading department is in full charge of procuring crude oil for Sinopec. We rarely make checks on them about this type of information,' he said. Sinopec, which has over recent years been boosting its trading portfolio, boasts nearly 1 million bpd of crude from its global trading network, a pool it can easily tap but which would mean other buyers would suffer. He said some Sinopec plants are looking for oil to replace Iranian South Pars condensate that was among the crudes cut from the January programme." (Reuters, "China halves Jan Iran oil imports in payment dispute," 12/19/2011)

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Sinopec financed 33% of a $.3.3 billion expansion to Iran's Imam Khomeini refinery, described as the largest oil refinery in the Middle East, with a capacity of 250,000 barrels per day.

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"Open sources reported that Sinopec's trading arm Unipec sold gasoline to Iran in 2010." U.S. Government Accountability Office, Report: "Firms Reported in Open Sources to Have Sold Iran Refined Petroleum Products between January 1, 2009 and June," September 3, 2010)

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"China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec, and Malaysia's SKS Ventures have taken over some parts of the projects, but the bulk of the work is now done by little-known local consortiums, some of them affiliates of the Guard's construction arm. Others belong to banks and the state."---Regarding refinery projects (South Pars). (Washington Post, "Sanctions slow development of huge natural gas field in Iran," July 23, 2010)

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 Sinopec's trading arm Unipec booked a vessel to load 250,000 barrels in Singapore on Tuesday, with options to discharge in the Gulf. The cargo was likely to go to Iran, trade sources said.

A Sinopec spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Unipec sold gasoline to Iran between 2001 and 2004. State-run Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp, the world's largest single lifter of Iranian crude, also used to be a regular supplier to Iran. (Reuters, "Exclusive: China's top oil firms sell gasoline to Iran-trade," 4/14/10)

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Last year’s foreign buying spree was not the first for the likes of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and China Petrochemicals Corporation (Sinopec), but previously the Chinese firms had mostly purchased assets in Africa and Central Asia, which typically produce oil similar to China’s own crude...All three of China’s biggest state-controlled oil companies have clinched deals with Tehran to develop some of Iran’s biggest oil and gasfields. Last year’s crop included agreements for CNPC to develop phase 11 of the massive South Pars gasfield to develop three oilfields. (The National, "China's global quest for oil," 1/9/10)

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"Top refiner Sinopec Corp. has agreed to import 150,000-160,000 bpd of Iranian crude this year, unchanged from 2008." (Reuters, "FACTBOX: Iran's major oil customers, energy partners," 8/19/09)

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"China's top three oil firms PetroChina (0857.HK), Sinopec Corp (0386.HK) and CNOOC, and state banks such as China Construction Bank (0939.HK) were briefed last week by senior Iranian oil officials in Beijing on a series of refining projects under Tehran's planning board, the officials said." (Reuters, "Iran seeks China investment to build refineries," 7/13/09)

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"But Greg Priddy, an oil analyst at the Eurasia Group consultancy, said Chinese companies did not have the same expertise as more established European operators. 'Iran was already looking to companies like Sinopec and CNPC, which are doing onshore work which is technologically much easier,' Mr Priddy said, but he added that those companies would not be able to do the more difficult offshore development needed for South Pars." (Financial Times, "Turmoil turns Iran's energy sector to Beijing," 7/11/09)

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"The enormous New York State Common Retirement Fund plans to divest $86.2 million in investments from nine companies doing business in Sudan and Iran...The decision comes after two years of reviewing these companies, the potential risk of the investments and, in some cases, humanitarian efforts in these countries. 'We don't expect our investments to benefit regimes that support genocide and terrorism,' said DiNapoli. The fund plans to divest out of $86 million in Gazprom (OGZPY), Inpex (1605.TO), Lukoil (LUKOY), Oil And Natural Gas Corp (500312.BY), OMV (OMVKY), Petroleo Brasilia (PBR), Statoil (STO), Wartsila OYJ and Sinopec Corp. DiNapoli said the firms were chosen because 'they failed to respond or we were not satisfied with their responses' when asked to provide information to the fund on the investments and their risks." (Dow Jones Newswires, NY Comptroller To Divest $86.2M In State Pension Fund Investments, 6/30/09)