PetroChina
China's second-largest petroleum refiner; shielded from OFAC Iran sanctions by MOFCOM's 2026 Blocking Rules.
Last refreshed: 19 May 2026
Why is PetroChina untouchable in the US campaign to cut off Iran's oil income?
Timeline for PetroChina
Mentioned in: OFAC SDN round skips mainland refineries again
Iran Conflict 2026- Why hasn't the US sanctioned PetroChina for buying Iranian oil?
- Designating PetroChina — a listed Chinese state company — would escalate the US-China confrontation at a moment when Washington needs Beijing's cooperation on Iran nuclear talks. OFAC has declined to add it across all May 2026 SDN rounds.Source: OFAC
- What is the relationship between PetroChina and CNPC?
- PetroChina is the listed subsidiary of CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation), which is wholly state-owned. CNPC holds a majority stake in PetroChina and is itself listed as one of the five refineries protected under the MOFCOM 2 May 2026 Blocking Rules.
- How do China's Blocking Rules stop PetroChina from complying with US Iran sanctions?
- MOFCOM's 2 May 2026 Blocking Rules, activated for the first time under the 2021 Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, legally bar Chinese entities from complying with OFAC Iran designations. Article 9 creates a private right of action in Chinese courts against any Chinese firm that does comply.Source: MOFCOM
Background
PetroChina is China's second-largest oil and gas company, listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai with the Chinese government holding a majority stake through CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation). Like Sinopec, it has sustained Iran crude procurement throughout the 2026 US-Iran conflict while OFAC's successive May SDN rounds — 11, 12, 15 and 19 May — left all mainland Chinese refineries undesignated.
PetroChina is integrated across exploration, production, refining, chemicals, and retail. Its parent CNPC is one of the five refineries that MOFCOM's 2 May 2026 Blocking Rules placed under explicit legal protection, barring compliance with OFAC's Iran sanctions designations and creating an Article 9 private right of action against any Chinese firm that does comply. PetroChina therefore operates in a jurisdiction where compliance with US sanctions is itself a legal offence.
The diplomatic arithmetic that keeps PetroChina off the SDN list is similar to Sinopec's: the US treats China's two largest state refiners as off-limits for secondary sanctions precisely because designating them would transform an economic pressure campaign into a full bilateral confrontation. Both companies function as a structural floor under Iran's oil revenues that US sanctions architecture cannot currently reach.
