Following the signing of a temporary peace agreement between Iran and the United States, the amount of discounts applied to Iranian crude oil sold to China has increased amid the resumption of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
According to sea-news.az traders and brokers are reportedly offering the spot price of Iranian Light crude oil for July delivery at a discount of between $2.50 and $5 per barrel compared to Brent crude. Prior to the signing of the peace agreement, the applied discount was approximately $1.
In recent days, at least 11 tankers carrying a combined total of 20 million barrels of oil are reported to have departed from Iran’s Port of Chabahar. Iran has also resumed loadings at its main export terminal on Kharg Island after a hiatus of about 6 weeks, following the lifting of the US maritime blockade under the temporary agreement.
According to data from the analytics firm Kpler, roughly 121 million barrels of Iranian oil are still waiting on tankers in and around the Gulf. Those volumes have increased by 5 percent compared to the week preceding the peace agreement. About a quarter of this volume is waiting off the coast of China or in the Singapore Strait.
Approximately 90 percent of Iranian oil is exported to China. However, because shipments are frequently relabeled as being of Malaysian origin, on paper it appears that China has not purchased Iranian crude oil since 2022.
