Iran's oil discount to China widens; unsold Iranian crude on the water rises to around 120 million barrels

With China's independent "teapot" refiners buying cautiously and favoring cheaper Qatari, Iraqi and UAE crude, unsold Iranian oil has been piling up at sea. According to tanker-tracking data cited by Bloomberg, roughly 70 million barrels of Iranian oil sit on tankers near Chinese ports and in floating storage near Malaysia and Singapore awaiting discharge, and total Iranian oil on the water, including floating storage, is estimated at nearly 120 million barrels.

The discount on Iranian crude to the Brent benchmark has widened to more than $6 a barrel for October-loading cargoes. The trend adds to the pressure on Iran's oil revenue.