Iranian Oil Supply to China Dries Up Amid US Blockade

The Iranian oil supply to China is rapidly drying up following the reinstatement of the U.S. blockade on Iran's oil exports. According to data from Kpler, the total Iranian crude volume outside the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman has decreased by more than 17 million barrels since mid-July, when the U.S.-Iran talks collapsed.

Currently, around half of these remaining 83 million barrels are in floating storage around Singapore's Eastern Outer Port Limits (EOPL) anchorage. However, it is likely that only two cargoes, equal to a total of 4 million barrels, have remained unsold out of the 40 million barrels offshore Singapore.

This suggests that buyers could face virtually no new Iranian supplies available for late-September delivery onwards, given that no laden Iranian tankers have so far managed to break through the U.S. blockade, according to Muyu Xu, senior crude analyst at Kpler.