GreenergyDaily

Mar. 23, 2026

China's state-owned refiners have begun exploring purchases of Iranian crude, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, after Washington allowed the sale of some oil already loaded onto tankers in an effort to limit price rises due to the Middle East War.

Representatives of National Iranian Oil Co. and traders who act as intermediaries have also been quietly sounding out potential buyers among these and other Asian refiners, the people said.

There are still hurdles, though, including the handling of payments and shipping, to reputational risks holding buyers back, said Muyu Xu, a senior crude oil analyst at Kpler Ltd. in Singapore. "Iranian oil flows are unlikely to shift materially in the near term," she said.

Sinopec, China's biggest refiner, would still avoid Iranian crude, the company's Vice Chairman Zhao Dong said at an earnings briefing in Hong Kong on Monday. Not only was there limited cargo availability, but the short one-month delivery window may create legal risks once the US waiver expires, he said.

The US Treasury's latest waiver, covering seaborne Iranian oil for a month,.

Even veteran intermediaries in the sanctioned oil trade are looking over the fine print to understand what is permitted and to avoid future penalties, two of the people said. Without clarity on key details, it is unlikely that the buyers of those seaborne volumes will change, they said.

In the meantime, however, the price of Iranian oil sold to China has already climbed. Iranian Light was offered at a slight premium to ICE Brent as suppliers tested appetite for cargoes, according to traders active in the market.

That compares with discounts of more than $10 a barrel last month.