Bessent Presses China Over 90% Share of Iran Oil Exports as Crude Tops $100
Updated
Updated · Yahoo Finance · Sep 21
Bessent Presses China Over 90% Share of Iran Oil Exports as Crude Tops $100
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Finance · Sep 21
Summary
Scott Bessent met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York on Sept. 20, putting Beijing’s purchases of roughly 90% of Iran’s exported oil at the center of talks.
Washington is targeting Iran’s oil revenue through sanctions, a naval blockade and warnings to foreign banks, but that pressure depends on curbing Chinese buying—largely by Shandong’s independent “teapot” refiners.
Bessent said Iran has only about 30 million barrels of crude left that China has not already bought, underscoring how concentrated Tehran’s remaining export market has become.
Brent settled at $103.87 and WTI at $100.30 on Sept. 18, while the U.S. average gasoline price stood at $4.47 a gallon as the Iran war kept fuel costs elevated.
The meeting adds strain to a broader U.S.-China agenda on trade and AI just days before the Sept. 24 Trump-Xi summit, with any disruption to cheap Iranian supply likely to ripple through global oil prices.