Sinopec ships 600,000 barrels of gasoline to Iran

Sinopec Corp's trading arm Unipec is shipping around 600,000 barrels of June arrival gasoline from Singapore to Iran, industry sources said on Tuesday.

The Chinese company last made a direct shipment to the Islamic Republic in April, sources said. The cargoes were loaded from Singapore.

Gasoline supplies to Iran typically originate from storage terminals in the United Arab Emirates.

"In May they didn't have anything...last time was in April from Singapore," a shipping source said.

"Usually about 90 per cent is coming from (UAE) area."

Iran, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, relies on the international market to secure 40 per cent of its domestic gasoline requirements because it lacks the refining capacity to produce its own.

The threat of US sanctions on fuel suppliers to Iran has reduced the pool of firms prepared to sell gasoline to the Opec member.

"Singapore is now one of the alternative sources where gasoline is loaded...not very often is the gasoline coming from there," the source said.

Unipec which sold gasoline to Iran between 2001 and 2004, has emerged as a direct supplier as international oil companies like Royal Dutch Shell, Russia's Lukoil, Malaysia's Petronas and top energy trading firms like Glencore, Vitol and Trafigura ceased sales into Tehran.

"The heat is on but Iran is still finding a way around the tough talk," a Middle East based trader said.

"This is what the free market is all about, as long as you have a willing buyer like Iran you will always find a seller to match up to...off course at a nice price too."

Iran was expected to import around 102,300 barrels per day (bpd) of gasoline on the spot market this month, or about 12 cargoes down 20 percent from April.

On Monday a top Iranian oil official said attempts by the West to stop Iran from importing gasoline would fail.

Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, deputy director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said the move by the United States and its Western allies were politically motivated.