Iran is making a concerted effort to recover 25 million barrels of oil worth $1.75 billion that have been stuck in Chinese ports for six years due to sanctions imposed by former US President Donald Trump. The oil, which was documented as Iranian oil when delivered to Chinese ports in 2018, never found buyers or cleared Chinese customs after Trump scrapped waivers in early 2019.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Iran’s national oil company NIOC stored the oil in the ports of Dalian and Zhoushan in east China, leasing tanks from PDA Energy and private storage operator CGPC. However, PDA Energy is now asking Iran to pay over $450 million in storage fees accumulated since 2018.

The talks between Iranian officials and Chinese storage operators have taken on added urgency due to concerns that Trump, who is set to return to power on January 20, may tighten sanctions again on Iranian oil exports. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Beijing in December and made some progress on the issue of stranded oil, but details of the discussions remain scarce.

To recover the stranded oil, Iran would need to reload it from tanks into ships, make a ship-to-ship transfer at sea, and redocument it to circumvent Chinese customs. This complex process highlights the challenges Iran faces in selling oil even in China, despite Beijing’s willingness to buy Iranian oil at discounted prices.