The hopper dredger ship Rotterdam operated by Van Oord is anchored, as Iran pledges to close the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Muscat, Oman, March 9, 2026.
Benoît Tessier | Reuters
Iran has continued to send large quantities of crude oil to China through the Strait of Hormuz, even as the war between the United States, Israel and Iran has jeopardized broader supplies through the critical waterway.
Iran has sent at least 11.7 million barrels of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz since the war began on Feb. 28, all destined for China, Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers, told CNBC on Tuesday.
The company monitors vessel movements using satellite imagery, allowing it to capture vessels that would otherwise go undetected if their tracking systems were turned off. Many ships have “became dark” after Tehran threatened to attack any ship attempting to pass through the waterway.
Maritime intelligence data provider Kpler estimates that about 12 million barrels of crude oil have passed through the strait since the start of the war. “Given that China has been the main buyer of Iranian crude in recent years, a significant share of these barrels could eventually be shipped there,” said Nhway Khin Soe, a crude analyst at Kpler, adding that it had become increasingly difficult to confirm the final destination of these ships.
The China National Energy Administration did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that has been essential to the transportation of around a fifth of the world’s oil and gashas seen maritime traffic slow since the war began last month, with tankers largely avoiding the besieged waterway.
Ten ships in or near the Strait of Hormuz was attacked by Tehran less than two weeks after the start of the war, killing at least seven sailors on board, according to the International Maritime Organization.
Oil tankers transiting the strait “you have to be very careful” ” an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday in an interview with CNBC’s Dan Murphy.
Three of the six tankers captured in satellite images that have left Iran since Feb. 28 were Iranian-flagged, Madani said.
As oil prices have soared due to fears of supply disruptions, US President Donald Trump told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade that ships stuck near the passage must “show courage” and push through the channel. “There’s nothing to worry about, they don’t have a navy, we’ve sunk all their ships,” Trump said.
Alternative export outlet?The Kharg Island terminal, located about 24 kilometers off the coast of mainland Iran, has long been the country’s main oil export facility, processing around 90% of its crude exports before the tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Today, Iran also resumed loading tankers at the Jask oil and gas terminal along the Gulf of Oman south of the Strait of Hormuz, which could add additional capacity to crude shipments.
An Iranian ship was loading 2 million barrels of crude oil – only the fifth such loading in that country in the past five years, according to TankerTrackers.
The surge in activity at Jask indicates that Tehran is exploring alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz, although the extent to which it can serve as a viable route for shipping remains unclear, Soe said.
The Jask oil facility – the only export outlet for Iranian crude on the Arabian Sea that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz entirely – has rarely been used because it appears far less efficient.
Loading a single Very Large Crude Carrier, a class of supertankers built for long-distance oil transport, can take up to 10 days, Madani said. “It has good national propaganda value, but not much in terms of logistical advantage.” For comparison, a VLCC takes about one or two days to charge on Kharg Island.
China’s stocks While Tehran continues to export to China, shipments of around 1.22 million barrels per day (mbd) were significantly below levels before the outbreak of war.
Iran exported 2.16 mbd in February, the highest level since July 2018, according to Kpler’s Soe, and they were all destined for China, as Beijing accumulated reserves to cushion potential energy supply risk.
During the first two months of the year, Beijing accelerated its efforts to build up its oil stocks, with crude imports climbing 15.8% from a year earlier, according to customs data released Tuesday.
According to Kpler, Iranian crude loadings also hit a record high of 3.78 mbd during the week of February 16, more than double the previous weekly average of around 1.48 mbd.
Over the years, China has built up large stocks of crude oil, accumulating a estimated at 1.2 billion barrels of stocks as early as January, which could meet demand for 3 to 4 months, according to the Atlantic Council.
And that intensification has become all the more urgent this year as U.S. President Donald Trump has targeted two of Beijing’s most critical supply sources, Venezuela and Iran. The United States captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a military strike earlier this year, while Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the US-Israeli war against Iran last month.
The war in the Middle East has shown few signs of easing, keeping tensions over the Strait of Hormuz and global energy markets under stress.
Oil prices rose to almost 120 dollars per barrel Monday reached levels not seen in four years, after several oil-producing countries in the Persian Gulf began cutting production and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz effectively stopped.
World leaders have scrambled to contain the consequences of a possible oil shock, with leaders of the Group of Seven, including the United States, would have considering the largest release of oil reserves ever and Trump signaling that the the war could soon be over.
Oil prices have since fallen, the United States WTI crude oil for April delivery falls to around $84.9 a barrel Tuesday at 10:50 p.m. ET, and the global benchmark Brent with delivery in May at $88.9 per barrel.
— CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng and Sam Meredith contributed to this report.