Four oil terminals under Qingdao port implement new tanker scoring system, effects marginal
Effective November 1, Qingdao Port — one of the largest crude import hubs in Shandong — will introduce a new “tanker scoring system” across its four oil terminals – Qingdao Haiye Oil Terminal Co, Qingdao Shihua Crude Oil Terminal Co, Qingdao Gangxin Oil Products Co and Qingdao Lixing Logistics Co. The framework establishes hard prohibitions and a points-based penalty structure aimed at tightening safety and compliance standards.
Immediate bans will apply to vessels that fall under the following categories: Missing essential documentation (e.g. flag state certificates), aged 30 years or above, vessels operating under falsified or stolen IMO numbers or classified as “high risk”.
In addition, point deductions will be imposed on vessels that do not sail under a Tokyo MoU white-listed flag, are classed by a non-IACS society or lack oil spill liability insurance. Those vessels that exceed 12 years of age are subject to incremental penalties applied for every three additional years.
While officially presented as a safety and environmental safeguard, the timing suggests a pre-emptive response to heightened US scrutiny on Chinese port facilitation of sanctioned oil trades. In practice, we expect the policy’s effect on shadow fleet activity at Qingdao to be marginal, as no tankers older than 30 years have called at Qingdao since 2022. In addition, Qingdao’s crude import share has already declined from more than 40% in 2020 to 20% in 2024, as neighbouring ports expanded VLCC berths. Its role in handling high-risk tankers is comparatively small, with only one terminal still believed to be serving a major state-owned refiner. All the other proposed vetting procedures signal the port's willingness to take demonstrable steps towards remaining compliant with US sanctions.
Iraq reaches interim deal to restart Kurdistan exports via Turkey
Iraq’s federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have reached an agreement to restart crude exports through the Iraq–Turkey (ITP) pipeline, ending an 18-month halt that has kept roughly 400k b/d of Kurdish crude offline since March 2023. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani described the accord as “historic,” with KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani confirming that oil from the region would soon re-enter global markets.
According to Iraqi sources, an initial 230k b/d of Kurdish crude will be marketed by state oil marketer SOMO, with sales handled by a limited pool of traders, including Vitol. A further 50k b/d will be refined domestically. Operators, including DNO and Gulf Keystone, have restarted flows in late September, though no formal restart date has been announced.
Not all producers are immediately rejoining the export stream. DNO, the largest private operator in the region, has opted to continue selling roughly 30k b/d locally on a cash basis at low-$30s/bbl, citing unresolved arrears. Local buyers, however, will independently push that crude into the ITP. DNO will contribute only the KRG’s ~38k b/d share from the Tawke license to exports. The company is currently owed $294 million from the KRG, making it the most financially exposed operator in the region.
Around 390k b/d of Kirkuk crude that was exported via Ceyhan from the ITP used to be carried on Aframaxes and Suezmaxes in 2022 before ITP went offline. With the pipeline resuming, this is likely to boost Aframaxes and Suezmaxes demand in the Mediterranean region, with most of the flows (in 2022, ~87%) moving to Mediterranean countries (Italy, Greece, Croatia).