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One Buyer Dominates Iran’s Oil Exports
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Key Takeaways
- Recent estimates suggest that 91% of Iran’s oil exports head to China.
- As other countries cut ties with the Middle Eastern state amid sanctions, China doubled down on the relationship.
- Syria, The United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela are also notable buyers of Iranian oil.
Iran has long faced international sanctions over its nuclear program.
Under President Trump, the U.S. intensified pressure by imposing a broad trading ban and targeting foreign financial institutions that did business with Iran, aiming to curb its nuclear ambitions.
The expanded sanctions left only a small group of countries willing to trade with Iran, the fourth-largest oil producer in OPEC and a major fossil fuel exporter.
This graphic charts the largest purchasers of Iranian oil, based on 2024 customs data from Iran, via TradeImeX.
Iran’s Oil Exports by Country
Dive into the data below:
| Rank | Country | Export Value ($B) | Share of Total (%) | Estimated Volume (Thousand bpd) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 32.5 | 90.8 | 1460 |
| 2 | Syria | 1.18 | 3.3 | 53 |
| 3 | United Arab Emirates | 0.72 | 2 | 32 |
| 4 | Venezuela | 0.43 | 1.2 | 19 |
| 5 | Iraq | 0.32 | 0.9 | 14 |
| 6 | Turkey | 0.22 | 0.6 | 10 |
| 7 | Malaysia | 0.14 | 0.4 | 6 |
| 8 | Oman | 0.11 | 0.3 | 5 |
| 9 | Lebanon | 0.07 | 0.2 | 3 |
| 10 | Sri Lanka | 0.07 | 0.2 | 3 |
Iran earned $35.76 billion from oil exports in 2024, though much of that trade reflects geopolitical alignment as much as market demand.
China took the lion’s share, accounting for over 90% of exports, or $32.5 billion. As other countries reduced imports under international sanctions, China continued buying Iranian crude at scale, cementing its role as Tehran’s primary energy partner.
Syria was the only other country to surpass $1 billion in purchases, importing roughly $1.2 billion worth of oil in 2024, or 3.3% of total exports. The United Arab Emirates and Venezuela followed at 2% and 1.2%, respectively.
In Venezuela’s case, energy trade has included an agreement to swap Venezuelan oil for Iranian condensate amid both countries facing U.S. sanctions.
Iran Sells Its Oil Cheap
The list of countries that Iran sells to has shrunk in recent years as sanctions reshaped trade flows. In 2010, Iranian oil landed in the ports of more than 20 countries, including China, Japan, India, South Korea, and several European nations. Sanctions did not halt exports entirely, but they redirected them toward a far smaller group of buyers.
Today, Iran relies on a shadow fleet of re-flagged tankers and ship-to-ship transfers to obscure cargo origins and bypass restrictions. Price is another incentive: Iranian crude typically trades at a $3–9 per barrel discount to Brent. Its oil is relatively cheap to extract — costing as little as $10 per barrel — compared with Brent prices around $60. That discount is estimated to cost Tehran several billion dollars per year in forgone revenue, effectively the price of maintaining a limited customer base.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
To learn more about Iran’s exports, check out this creator graphic which charts the country’s top export destinations.