The amount of oil held in floating storage was 16.82 million barrels as of Dec 15, according to data from Kpler.

Nearly two-thirds is stashed on tankers off the eastern coast of Malaysia, a key area of the supply chain where Iranian crude is often transferred to other ships for transit to Chinese ports.

The US yesterday, sanctioned more tankers and companies that it alleges are involved in the Iranian oil trade, which is set to face even more scrutiny after Donald Trump takes office next month.

Penalties have already disrupted flows to China, boosting demand for crude from other Middle Eastern producers.

Kpler calculates floating storage as tankers carrying crude that have idled for seven or more days.

The Bendigo, a Barbados-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier, has been sitting in the waters off Malaysia, fully laden, since Oct 20, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

The 19-year-old vessel received oil from Hilda I, an Iranian VLCC that hauled crude from the Kharg Island export terminal.

The MS Enola, a 22-year-old VLCC that sails under Djibouti’s flag, has been in the same area since Nov 11, loaded with Iranian crude.

It had taken those barrels from Dino I, another supertanker that’s owned by Iran’s national oil company.

MS Enola was sanctioned by the US yesterday.

Iran has ramped up output over the past two years to 3.4 million barrels per day, figures compiled by Bloomberg show, just short of the levels pumped before then-president Trump re-imposed sanctions in 2018.

“The Opec producer shipped around 1.8 million barrels per day last month,” Kpler said.