PetroChina plugs Singapore plant's shortfall with crude from China storage, trackers say

SINGAPORE, April 1 (Reuters) - PetroChina 0857.HK has supplied a rare cargo of close to 2 million barrels of crude oil from storage in China to its half-owned refinery in Singapore, as the firm moves to plug shortfalls triggered by the Iran war, according to tanker trackers and three trade sources.

The tanker New Merit loaded 1.8 million barrels of crude at Dalian in northeast China in mid-March, delivering it in late March to Singapore's Jurong island, according to tanker trackers Vortexa and Kpler, where PetroChina and U.S. major Chevron operate a 50-50 joint venture refinery.

The sources declined to be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

China rarely exports crude oil. The shipment was of Murban crude from the UAE, according to Vortexa Analytics and a separate trade source. PetroChina is an equity partner in Murban production.

PetroChina did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while SRC declined to comment on its refinery operations.

PetroChina and Chevron take turns supplying crude to their 285,000 barrel-per-day Singapore Refining Co's plant on a quarterly basis, said a fourth source familiar with its operation.

SRC, one of Singapore's three refineries, typically processes oil from the Middle East as its main feedstock and has been running at a reduced rate of around 60% since early March as the war disrupts crude supply form the region.

Refineries across Asia, which buy the bulk of Middle Eastern oil exports, have cut runs to manage feedstock shortfalls.

PetroChina chairman Dai Houliang said last week that the company was able to maintain normal oil and gas operations due its low reliance on supply that transits through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively blocked for a month.