Nearly 40 million barrels of Iranian crude are reportedly stored on tankers near Malaysia, beyond a US naval blockade at the Persian Gulf. The stockpile matters because it may allow Iran to earn revenue from oil exported before the blockade tightened, testing the Trump administration’s pledge to achieve “zero leakage” and financially isolate Tehran.

The reported volume represents about 20 very large crude carriers, while Iran is estimated to hold roughly 80 million barrels in floating storage overall. Provisional data cited by Reuters indicate China’s Iranian oil imports fell from about 823,000 barrels a day in July to 534,000 this month, but ship-to-ship transfers and Chinese financial channels may still help conceal the oil’s origin and process payments.