Business
Some 90% of Iran’s Crude Oil Goes to China. What Now?
The vast majority of Iran’s roughly 1.6 million barrels a day of crude exports is bound for China, but the world’s second-largest economy has spent months shoring up its supply, cushioning itself from any potential shocks from this weekend’s conflict.
Iranian crude is mostly bought up by small, independent “teapot” refineries in China, which are well supplied in the near term and are unlikely to turn to the mainstream market to compete with other buyers for crude, analysts said.
Even before the conflict started on Saturday, Iran had accelerated crude-oil loading onto vessels in preparation for days of zero or low loadings, according to commodities data provider Kpler.