New-Vista

The latest U.S. sanctions on a major Chinese crude oil terminal have forced the refining group Sinopec to divert the 'New Vista' and ask some plants to cut crude processing rates. The tanker, which was carrying a cargo of Abu Dhabi's Upper Zakum crude grade to the port of Rizhao in the Shandong province, changed its destination over the weekend after the U.S. imposed sanctions on an import terminal at the port on Oct 10, 2025. Shortly after the U.S. announcement, Sinopec told about half a dozen subsidiary refineries that receive crude oil from the designated terminal to cut operation rates to 80% for the rest of October. The consultancy, JLC, estimated on Oct 11 that Sinopec's October runs may drop 3.36% from earlier plans to about 5.16 million barrels per day. The 'New Vista', which was chartered by Sinopec's trading arm Unipec and was originally scheduled to discharge at Rizhao on Oct 12, had switched its destination to the ports of Ningbo and Zhoushan with an ETA as of Oct 15. The Rizhao Shihua Crude Oil Terminal, half-owned by a Sinopec logistics unit, was among the entities listed by the U.S. Treasury in a round of sanctions that also included ships transporting Iranian crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas. The terminal, was sanctioned for receiving Iranian oil on board sanctioned vessels.