Iran is experiencing a significant increase in its floating oil hoard as major buyers continue to distance themselves, a situation exacerbated by the ongoing US naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. Data from Kpler Ltd. indicates that in March 2026, over 46 million barrels of Iranian crude were on vessels in Asia, with nearly 80% anchored off the Chinese coast and in the Singapore Strait. By April, this figure had settled at around 38 million barrels, with over a third of the ships in the Yellow Sea near independent Chinese refiners, known as teapots.
Despite these mounting stockpiles, Iran has decades of experience preparing for such scenarios, including strategic cuts in production to manage storage constraints, as noted by a senior Iranian official in May 2026. The country has also been utilizing onshore inventories in China, which swelled near their yearly highs, to cushion the impact on China's independent processors. This strategy provides a crucial buffer for China against potential US blockades, as observed by Bloomberg News in April.
More recently, there have been some changes in shipping patterns. As of June 2026, Iran openly ramped up oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, with approximately 6 million barrels on three US-sanctioned supertankers. These vessels, named Elva, Virgo, and Vigor, were observed heading towards Singapore, a known transshipment point for Iranian crude destined for China. This uptick in visible shipping activity occurs as Tehran and Washington reportedly seek a lasting peace deal, though it remains to be seen how this will impact the floating hoard in the long term, especially as the overall seaborne oil buffer in markets was running down fast in March 2026 due to Persian Gulf supply constraints.
