Tehran left in the cold as old allies cut crude imports
Recent oil sales to Asia make for troubling reading for Iran's embattled government
Iranian officials' upbeat public pronouncements on their ability to ride out the escalated US-backed sanctions regime are beginning to sound hollow. Tehran had hoped long-standing crude buyer China might withstand American pressure and continue to buy its oil-imports averaged 590,000bl/d in the May-October 2018 period, according to figures from consultancy SVB Energy International — but recent volumes are well down on this level. According to figures from leading cargo tracking firm Kpler, Iranian exports to China were just 190,000bl/d in January, compared to 409,000bl/d in December. Given that China forms one half of a sizeable Asian demand double act with India, accounting for about 80pc o
Also in this section
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
17 February 2026
Siemens Energy has been active in the Kingdom for nearly a century, evolving over that time from a project-based foreign supplier to a locally operating multi-national company with its own domestic supply chain and workforce
17 February 2026
Eni’s chief operating officer for global natural resources, Guido Brusco, takes stock of the company’s key achievements over the past year, and what differentiates its strategy from those of its peers in the LNG sector and beyond
16 February 2026
As the third wave of global LNG arrives, Wood Mackenzie’s director for Europe gas and LNG, Tom Marzec-Manser, discusses with Petroleum Economist the outlook for Europe’s gas market in 2026
