A Rotterdam hopper dredger operated by Van Old is moored in Muscat, Oman, March 9, 2026, amid the US-Israel-Iran conflict and as Iran pledges to close the Strait of Hormuz.
Benoît Tessier | Reuters
Iran continues to send large amounts of crude oil to China via the Strait of Hormuz, even though the war between the US, Israel and Iran has put widespread supplies through the vital sea route at risk.
Tanker Trackers co-founder Sameer Madani told CNBC on Tuesday that Iran has sent at least 11.7 million barrels of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz since the war began on February 28, all of which went to China.
The company monitors ship movements using satellite images, allowing it to catch ships that would go undetected if their tracking systems were turned off. A number of ships have been “blacked out” after the Iranian government threatened to attack ships attempting to pass through the waterway.
Maritime intelligence data provider Kpler estimates that about 12 million barrels of oil have passed through the Strait since the start of the war. “Given that China has been a major buyer of Iranian crude oil in recent years, it is likely that a significant portion of these barrels will end up in Iran,” said Kpler crude oil analyst Nuwei Khin Soe, adding that the final destinations of these vessels are becoming increasingly difficult to confirm.
China’s National Energy Administration did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
In the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway essential for transporting about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas, shipping traffic has trickled down since the war began last month, with tankers largely avoiding the besieged waterway.
Ten ships in or near the Strait of Hormuz were attacked by Tehran less than two weeks after the war began, killing at least seven crew members, according to the International Maritime Organization.
Oil tankers passing through the strait “need to exercise extreme caution,” an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in an interview with CNBC’s Dan Murphy on Monday.
Of the six tankers that left Iran since February 28, satellite images showed three were Iranian-flagged, Madani said.
As oil prices soar due to concerns about supply disruptions, US President Donald Trump told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade that ships stranded near shipping lanes need to “be brave” and get out of the shipping lanes. “There’s nothing to fear. They don’t have a navy. We sank all their ships,” Trump said.
What are the alternative export destinations?
The Khalgh Island terminal, located about 25 miles off the coast of mainland Iran, has long been the country’s main oil export facility, processing about 90% of crude oil exports before tankers transit the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has also resumed tanker loading at the Jask oil and gas terminal on the Gulf of Oman, south of the Strait of Hormuz, potentially increasing its capacity to transport crude oil.
The Iranian vessel was loaded with 2 million barrels of crude oil, the fifth such loading in the past five years, TankerTrackers said.
Jask’s new activity shows that the Iranian government is exploring alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz, but the extent to which the strait serves as a viable shipping route remains unclear, Soh said.
The Jask oil facility, Iran’s only oil export port on the Sea of Oman that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz entirely, is rarely used because it appears to be much less efficient.
Madani said it can take up to 10 days to load a single super-crude carrier, a type of supertanker built for long-distance oil transport. “It’s good value for domestic propaganda, but not much of a logistical advantage.” For comparison, a VLCC takes about one to two days to load at Kharg Island.
China’s stockpiles
The Iranian government continues to export to China, but shipments are at about 1.22 million barrels per day (MBD), well below levels before the outbreak of war.
Kpler’s Soh said Iran exported 2.16 million barrels in February, the highest level since July 2018, all of which went to China as Beijing builds up reserves to cushion potential energy supply risks.
In the first two months of this year, the Chinese government accelerated efforts to strengthen oil reserves, with crude oil imports increasing 15.8% year-on-year, customs data on Tuesday showed.
Iranian crude oil loadings also reached a record high of 3.78 million barrels in the week ending Feb. 16, more than double the previous weekly average of about 1.48 million barrels, according to Kupler.
China has built up large oil reserves over the years, with an estimated 1.2 billion barrels in stock as of January, enough to meet three to four months’ worth of demand, according to the Atlantic Council.
And that buildup took on new urgency this year after U.S. President Donald Trump targeted two of Beijing’s most important sources of supplies: Venezuela and Iran. The United States captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a military strike earlier this year, and last month Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei was killed in the U.S.-Israel war against Iran.
The war in the Middle East shows little sign of abating, tensions around the Strait of Hormuz are rising, and global energy markets are under stress.
Oil prices soared to nearly $120 a barrel on Monday, a level not seen in four years, after several Persian Gulf oil producers began cutting production and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz effectively stopped.
World leaders are scrambling to contain the fallout from a potential oil shock, with G7 leaders including the United States reportedly considering releasing their largest oil reserves ever and President Trump suggesting the war could soon end.
After that, oil prices fell due to the influence of the United States. WTI Crude oil for April delivery fell to around $84.9 per barrel as of 10:50 p.m. ET on Tuesday, with global benchmarks also falling. brent $88.9 per barrel for May delivery.
— CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng and Sam Meredith contributed to this report.
