Tehran- More than a week after the publication of reports about the amount of Iranian oil loaded on floating tankers reached the highest levels due to the tightening of US sanctions, until data on the tracking of global oil shipments showed that the Iranian crude flow to China increased during the first month, from the return of US President Donald Trump to the home White, despite resuming the “maximum pressure” policy on Iranian oil exports.
The American Bloomberg Agency, last Wednesday, published a report about the rise in Iranian crude flows to China during the month of February, and expected – based on the data of Kepler company specialized in tracking oil and gas shipments – the rise in Chinese imports this month to 1.74 million barrels per day ,, Which represents an 86% increase from the daily average in the past month, which is the highest level since October 2024.
According to the US agency, the merchants managed to overcome the logistical obstacles caused by the sanctions imposed on the export of Iranian oil, explaining that the high exports came driven by increasing transportation operations from one ship to another, in addition to adopting alternative reception stations.
This came about about a week after a Reuters news agency published a report in which it said that the data of Kepler shows that the amount of Iranian oil in the floating storage exceeded 25 million barrels to reach the highest level in more than a year, with about 80% of floating charges off the coast of Singapore And Malaysia.
High exports
With the decline in the number of buyers due to the tightening of the US sanctions, which reduces the number of tankers available to hand over the shipments – according to the Reuters report – Tehran has difficulty attracting new ships to bridge the gap of the ability to ship, as well as the difficulty in emptying such shipments due to the ban imposed by the ports group Chinese Chandong, last month, on the sanctions oil tankers.
As for whether Tehran considers the increase in its oil flow to China is an achievement to nullify the sanctions imposed by the Trump administration in the context of whistling exports of crude, the head of the Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Exporters Syndicate in Iran, Hamid Hosseini, explains that the reality of global oil trade has not yet been affected by the decisions taken by the White House Recently, it was not in effect at all.
In an interview with Al -Jazeera Net, Hosseini explains that after the slight decline in Iranian oil exports during the past year after Tehran demanded that the opponent be reduced to its oil several times, the Iranian crude flows of China began to increase slowly since the end of last year, but it recorded a record during the current month It is considered compensation for the last decline.
He revealed that Iranian oil shipping operations have not increased recently and that statistics about the high flow of Iranian crude to China are due to the increase in Chinese ports of oil loaded on floating ships and the fear of small companies that its flow was affected by the sanctions announced by Trump recently.
Hosseini: In the event of the success of negotiations between Washington and Moscow, the return of Russian oil to Western markets would allow the American administration to obstruct the flow of Iranian oil to the eastern markets
Expected difficulties
The head of the Oil, Gas Experters and Petrochemical Syndicate in Iran, Hamid Hosseini, said that the flow of Iranian oil to East Asia is facing difficulties in shipping on the one hand due to the sanctions on oil tankers and in finding reception ports on the other hand, but commercial brokers are able to devise alternatives to circumvent US sanctions This makes Iranian oil exports to whispered a very difficult task.
Hosseini believes that the American administration is working to reduce oil and gasoline prices, as it started to rise since Trump returned to the White House despite his demand for member states of OPEC to reduce prices.
He concluded that if the negotiations between Washington and Moscow succeeded, the return of Russian oil to Western markets would allow the American administration to obstruct the flow of Iranian oil to the eastern markets.
As for the economic researcher Ali Muhammadi, he believes that his country’s exports of crude oil will definitely face difficulties during the next stage due to US sanctions, but he soon realizes that his country has a very large experience in overcoming these sanctions as long as there are buyers who want to buy Iranian crude, whether by transferring it from a ship to Other or adopting alternative reception stations.
Precious experiences
Speaking to Al -Jazeera Net, the researcher refers to the customs duties imposed by the American administration on Chinese imports, which causes Beijing to rebel against Washington’s sanctions, explaining that the pace and size of Iranian exports to China will be affected by the results of the China -American negotiations to overcome the customs duties crisis on the one hand and the extent of implementing the previous agreements Between Tehran and Beijing on the other hand.
Given that China buys a large part of Iranian crude – and the words of Muhammadi – he expects his country’s oil exports not to be affected despite the US sanctions, in harmony with the good bilateral relations between Tehran and Beijing, and diminishing the possibilities of reducing tension between China and America during the next stage.
The same spokesman ruled out that the US Navy was arrested by the arrest of Iranian oil shipments at sea during the second Trump state, where such a move would lead to a clash with the Iranian navy.
He explained that the new American administration believes in the necessity of avoiding entry into conflicts that may cost them exorbitant prices, especially if the previous experiences in the friction of the two navies in regional and international waters are taken.
Muhammadi: The customs duties imposed by the American administration on Chinese imports may push Beijing to rebel against Washington’s sanctions
Alternative markets
In light of the economic war waged by the US administration on many other countries, especially Iran and China, the former director of international affairs at the Iranian Oil Company, Sayed Mohsen Qamsari, pledged the continued flow of Iranian crude to East Asia, with Beijing’s will to challenge American pressure and Tehran’s diplomacy in persuading the Chinese partner to buy oil The Iranian and not resorting to alternative markets.
In a statement carried by the Persian -speaking IRNA news agency, the economic feasibility of Chinese companies affirms as a result of the purchase of Iranian oil, and urged Iranian diplomacy to strengthen relations with Beijing more and more to nullify US sanctions, noting that Beijing’s policies to deal with American pressure will play an important role in determining The size of its imports of Iranian oil.
He concluded that dispensing Iranian oil will not be easy for Chinese companies, explaining that even if China decides to freeze its imports of Iranian oil, its exports will not stop due to the presence of other customers in East Asia.
