China's heavy dependence on Iranian oil - Last year, Beijing bought 10.27 million barrels per day from the sanctioned country
China, the world's largest importer of crude oil, is the main buyer from OPEC producer Iran, leaving Beijing uniquely exposed to any supply disruptions resulting from the conflict in the Middle East.
Beijing, which is also the largest buyer of oil from Venezuela and a major importer of oil from Russia, has used purchases from the three countries facing various Western sanctions to save billions of dollars on its import bill in recent years.
China bought more than 80% of the oil shipped from Iran, data for 2025 from analytics firm Kpler showed. Iranian oil has limited buyers due to U.S. sanctions aimed at cutting off financing for Tehran's nuclear program. According to Kpler, China bought an average of 1.38 million barrels of Iranian oil per day last year, representing about 13.4% of the total 10.27 million barrels per day imported by sea.
Independent Chinese refiners, clustered mainly in Shandong province, are the main buyers of Iranian crude, attracted by its discount to unsanctioned barrels. These refineries operate on tight and sometimes negative margins and have been squeezed recently by tepid domestic demand for refined products.
Iranian light crude has been trading about $8 to $10 a barrel below the ICE Brent price for the product delivered to China since December, down from a discount of about $6 in September, traders said. That means Chinese refiners save about $8 to $10 a barrel if they buy Iranian light crude instead of unsanctioned Omani crude.
Iran has a record amount of oil in reserves, equivalent to about 50 days of production, as China has bought less due to sanctions and Tehran seeks to protect its supplies from the risk of US attacks, Kpler said.
Washington reimposed sanctions on Tehran in 2018, and the administration of US President Donald Trump has imposed several new rounds of sanctions on Iran's oil trade since taking office in January.
Trump's sanctions have included penalties on three Chinese refineries. Beijing opposes unilateral sanctions and defends its trade with Iran as legitimate. Iranian oil imported by China is usually labeled by traders as originating in other countries, such as Malaysia, a major shipping hub, and Indonesia.
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