China to halt diesel, gasoline exports as Persian Gulf tensions escalate

China’s government has instructed the nation’s top oil refiners to halt diesel and gasoline exports as rising tensions in the Persian Gulf interrupt crude supply from one of the world’s major oil-producing regions, Bloomberg reports, citing sources.

Representatives from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) met with refinery officials and verbally requested an immediate temporary halt to petroleum product shipments, including stopping new contracts and reviewing previously agreed deliveries.

The move comes in response to a blockade of maritime traffic in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf, posing a threat to China’s energy supply, heavily reliant on oil from the region. According to analytics firm Kpler, the Middle East accounted for roughly 57% of China’s direct seaborne crude oil imports by 2025.

Companies including PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC, Sinochem Group, and private Zhejiang Petrochemical receive government quotas for fuel exports. Despite a developed refining sector, most production is directed at the domestic market, and China remains the third-largest fuel exporter by sea in Asia after South Korea and Singapore.

Following recent US and Israeli strikes that disrupted Persian Gulf oil shipments, refineries from Japan to Indonesia have begun reducing production and suspending exports.

In recent years, China has sought to diversify hydrocarbon sources, yet nearly half of its oil imports still come from Gulf countries, including almost all supplies from Iran.

By Jeyhun Aghazada