Tehran:Iran has reportedly shipped around 11.7 million barrels of crude oil to China through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the conflict in the Middle East following joint coordinated strikes on Tehran, reported CNBC. Notably, after the conflict started, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) blocked the Strait of Hormuz for shipment of oil supplies.

In recent years, China has been the largest oil buyer from Iran, with around 90 per cent of oil needs. In 2025, China imported about 5.4 million barrels of crude per day through the Strait of Hormuz, as per a report by The Guardian. Out of these, 1.38 million barrels per day were Iranian crude.

According to the CNBC report, many tankers on their way to China even switched off their automatic tracking systems. This phenomenon is known as 'going dark.' Iran supplied about 13 per cent of China’s seaborne crude by 2025. Notably, China has diversified its energy supply.

Since the start of the conflict, around 12 million barrels of crude oil have passed through the strait, as per shipping intelligence data provider Kpler. China has around 400-500 million barrels as its estimated Strategic Petroleum Reserve and around 600–900 million barrels of commercial stocks. These reserves are enough to survive for around 80-90 days.

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Around 20 per cent of the world’s energy supplies pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The conflict has led to an energy crisis in the region due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by the IRGC. The strait is a waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea. Every day, it carries 21 million barrels of crude oil, about one-fifth of the total global consumption.

IEA Member countries to carry out largest-ever oil stock release:

Earlier in the day, the 32 member countries of the International Energy Agency unanimously agreed today to make 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves available to the market to address the ongoing energy crisis that erupted from the Middle East conflict.

“The oil market challenges we are facing are unprecedented in scale, therefore I am very glad that IEA Member countries have responded with an emergency collective action of unprecedented size,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

Also Read:Japan Considers Emergency Oil Reserve Release as Iran–Israel War Threatens Global Supply

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