China has banned Russia’s shadow fleet from entering major oil ports.

China’s largest port operator, Shandong Port Group, has banned tankers under US sanctions from entering ports in Shandong province, home to many independent refineries that are the largest oil importers from sanctioned countries.

The province imported about 1.74 million barrels of oil daily from Iran, Russia, and Venezuela last year, accounting for about 17% of China’s imports. If the ban goes into effect, it will increase shipping costs for refiners in Shandong, the main buyers of preferential sanctions crude from the three countries.

At the same time, seaborne Russian crude exports have fallen to their lowest level since August 2023, down 540,000 barrels per day since a peak in October. One of the reasons for the decline in oil flows may be increased refining volumes at Russian refineries. As a result, crude oil production in the Russian Federation fell below the OPEC+ level in December.