Oil Prices Soar After Trump Threatens Sanctions On Iranian Crude Buyers: Is China On Top Of The List?

Oil prices jumped sharply Thursday after President Donald Trump took to Truth Social, telling all nations to cease purchases of Iranian oil and petrochemicals, or violators will face sweeping U.S. secondary sanctions.

“All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW!” Trump wrote.

“Any Country or person who buys ANY AMOUNT of OIL or PETROCHEMICALS from Iran will be subject to, immediately, Secondary Sanctions. They will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form.”

While the declaration has yet to be backed by an official White House press release or executive order, energy markets wasted no time reacting.

Within 30 minutes of the post going live, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices — tracked by the United States Oil Fund USO — rose from $58.60 to $59.20, a gain of nearly 1%.

The move underscores the market’s sensitivity to Middle East-related supply disruptions, particularly involving Iran, which remains a major crude player despite being under sanctions since 2018.

U.S. oil & gas stocks – as tracked by the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE – flipped to gains, rising 1% by 2:20 p.m. ET.

Wall Street remained broadly unfazed by the rising risk of a potential Iranian oil embargo, with the S&P 500 index extending daily gains, up 1.2% to 5,635 points.

China Is The Largest Buyer Of Iranian Crude

China currently accounts for nearly 90% of Iranian oil exports, which hit an all-time high of 1.8 million barrels per day in March, per ship tracking data from Vortex cited by Reuters.

A significant portion of that oil is believed to be offloaded into the northeastern province of Shandong, home to independent refineries that often operate outside international regulatory frameworks.

Beijing’s persistent imports have drawn increasing ire from U.S. policymakers.

“The Iranian regime uses the revenue it generates from these sales to finance attacks on U.S. allies, support terrorism around the world, and pursue other destabilizing actions,” said Department of State spokesperson Tammy Bruce in a March press release.

According to the U.S. Department of State, “China is by far the largest importer of Iranian oil.”

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