China's Zhuhai Zhenrong Books May Fuel-oil Shipment from Iran

Zhuhai Zhenrong Co., the Chinese company censured by the U.S. in January for trading with Iran, provisionally hired an oil tanker to carry fuel oil from the Persian Gulf nation, shipping data showed.

Tianbao, a unit of state-owned Zhuhai Zhenrong, chartered the Khorfakkan to load 80,000 metric tons on May 15 from the Iranian port of Bandar Mahshahr, according to three shipbrokers including Poten & Partners Inc. in New York. The Liberia-flagged vessel is under way in the Persian Gulf, transmissions captured by IHS Inc. (IHS) on Bloomberg show.

Fuel oil is a residual product of refining used for power generation and as shipping fuel. Two phone calls to Zhuhai Zhenrong's office in Beijing weren't answered. Provisional fixtures are subject to changes or cancellation.

China is the largest importer of Iran's oil, buying 22 percent of the nation's crude exports in the first half of 2011, according to the latest available data from the U.S. Energy Department. Iran faces a European Union embargo on the transportation, purchase, financing and insurance of its oil starting July 1 because of its nuclear program.

Zhuhai Zhenrong was one of three companies sanctioned on Jan. 12 by the State Department for selling gasoline to Iran. It was barred from receiving U.S. export licenses or loans of more than $10 million from U.S. financial institutions.