World ( The cow news digital )
TEHRAN: Facing intense American sanctions and maritime route disruptions, Iran has shifted toward railway transport to sustain its crude oil exports to China, bypassing traditional sea lanes.
According to viral social media reports, Iran’s maritime oil exports have plummeted from 2.1 million barrels per day down to approximately 567,000 barrels per day, forcing Tehran to heavily rely on alternative overland routes.
Under the new logistics strategy, Iran is utilizing a 10,400-kilometer railway corridor to transport oil directly to various Chinese cities, with the cross-country journey taking roughly 15 days. Sources indicate that Tehran is actively increasing its fleet of pressurized oil tanker railcars and reactivating legacy storage hubs to keep supply lines functional.
However, rail transportation presents significant economic and logistical hurdles. Shipping oil via train is substantially more expensive, costing approximately $15 per barrel compared to just $5 per barrel through maritime routes.
Furthermore, capacity remains a major constraint; a standard freight train can carry around 70,000 barrels of oil, whereas a large ocean-going oil tanker has the capacity to transport over 2 million barrels in a single voyage.
