Is China learning to live without Iranian oil?
China's independent teapot refineries have closed deals for October and November for up to 20 million barrels of oil, replacing sanctioned Iranian crude with supplies from Iraq and Qatar, according to Reuters, citing three major oil-trading houses. The US returned to blockading Iran in mid-July, with the blockade covering Iran's entire coastline and all its ports and oil terminals, and CENTCOM says as many as 270 ships have been redirected by the US Navy. For several years, roughly 90 percent of Iranian oil exports have gone to China, about 1.4 million barrels a day in 2025, a flow that had slowed to about a third of that by September.
Why it matters: The substitution of Iraqi and Qatari barrels for Iranian crude shows how sanctions and maritime enforcement are reshaping energy trade flows in the Gulf.