Last month, Kpler said Iran was gearing up to shift stockpiles of its crude in Chinese ports ahead of any tighter US sanctions imposed by president Donald Trump. This could total 20m barrels from storage in China’s Dalian and 5m barrels held in Zhoushan. The full amount is the equivalent of 25 suezmax cargoes.

In China, newly sanctioned tankers face delays offloading oil despite meeting waiver requirements. Three of them discharged Russian ESPO and Sokol crude during Jan. 15-17 while tanker Olia offloaded at Shandong's Yantai port on Sunday after carrying its ESPO cargo for nearly three weeks, according to LSEG data.

Trade for March-loading Russian oil in China and India has stalled due to soaring shipping costs triggered by U.S. sanctions introduced on Jan. 10, Reuters reported on Jan. 28. The sanctions target nearly 200 vessels in Russia's "shadow fleet,

China and India have suspended March purchases of Russian oil as U.S. sanctions drive up shipping costs, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing traders and shipping data. The U.S. Treasury Department earlier this month targeted 183 vessels,