EMERGENCY: ISRAEL ATTACKS IRAN’S OIL AND GAS FACILITIES
March 7th, 2026Perhaps this is also a war against China:
China has emerged as the largest buyer of Iranian crude, importing more than 80% of Iran’s oil exports in 2025. This amounted to around 1.38 million barrels per day, roughly 13–14% of China’s total seaborne crude imports, according to Kpler. Tehran’s oil has limited buyers due to decades of U.S. sanctions aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, leaving China uniquely positioned as a consistent customer. Much of the Iranian crude is purchased by independent refiners, commonly called “teapots,” which are clustered in Shandong province and operate with narrow margins. Large state-owned Chinese oil companies have largely avoided direct imports since 2018–2019 to reduce sanction risk. Iranian oil is also often transshipped or relabeled through countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia to navigate U.S. sanctions restrictions.
China’s reliance on Iranian oil underscores a delicate balancing act between securing affordable energy and navigating international pressure. Iranian crude trades at a discount of $8–$10 per barrel below global benchmarks, making it financially attractive to smaller Chinese refiners. Yet this dependence exposes China to geopolitical risks: any conflict in the Middle East or further tightening of sanctions could disrupt shipments, affecting refinery operations and energy security.
Via: Al Jazeera:
Israel has struck some of Iran’s most vital oil and gas facilities, the first such attacks despite decades of rivalry between the Middle Eastern nations, raising fears of a widening conflict and threatening turmoil for the markets.
…
Iran holds the world’s second-largest proven natural gas reserves and the third-largest crude oil reserves, according to the United States government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), and its energy infrastructure has long been a potential target for Israel.
Before the current spiral in their conflict, Israel had largely avoided targeting Iranian energy facilities, amid pressure from its allies, including the US, over the risks to global oil and gas prices from any such attack.
That has now changed.
On Friday, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel?Katz warned that if Iran retaliated to its attacks, “Tehran will burn”.
Late on Saturday, major fires broke out at two opposing ends of the Iranian capital — the Shahran fuel and gas depot, northwest of central Tehran, and one of Iran’s biggest oil refineries in Shahr Rey, to the city’s south.
While Iran’s Student News Network subsequently denied that the Shahr Rey refinery had been struck by Israel, and claimed it was still operating, it conceded that a fuel tank outside the refinery had caught fire. It did not explain what sparked the fire.
But Iran’s Petroleum Ministry confirmed that Israel had struck the Shahran depot, where firefighters are still trying to bring flames under control.
The Israeli aerial attacks also targeted the South Pars field, offshore Iran’s southern Bushehr province. The world’s largest gasfield is the source of two-thirds of Iran’s gas production, which is consumed nationally. Iran shares the South Pars with its neighbour Qatar, where it is called the North Field.
The strikes triggered significant damage and fire at the Phase 14 natural gas processing facility and halted an offshore production platform that generates 12 million cubic metres per day, reported the semiofficial Tasnim news agency.
In a separate Israeli attack, fire reportedly broke out at the Fajr Jam gas plant, one of Iran’s largest processing facilities, also in the Bushehr province, which processes fuel from South Pars. The Iranian Petroleum Ministry confirmed that the facility was hit.
More: The Sky Is The Limit For The Current Oil Price Rally
