FT: Iran stores oil on ageing tankers amid export decline

Iran is being forced to store oil on ageing tankers anchored in the Persian Gulf as a US blockade sharply limits the country’s ability to export crude to the Far East, the Financial Times (FT) reports.

The publication, citing data from the organisation United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), said that around 39 tankers carrying Iranian oil and petrochemical products are currently stationed in the Persian Gulf, compared to 29 vessels before the blockade came into effect on April 13. A large number of ships have accumulated near Iran’s oil export terminal on Kharg Island.

The Financial Times and UANI analysts also identified 13 additional suspicious tankers near the port of Chabahar in the Gulf of Oman, positioned east of the Strait of Hormuz — effectively along the line of the US naval blockade.

The buildup of vessels illustrates the apparent impact of the blockade, which aims to subject Iranian vessels or ships suspected of carrying Iranian cargo to inspections and seizures by the US Navy, the report said.

The blockade marks the latest shift in a rapidly changing White House policy on Iranian crude during the ongoing conflict, now entering its 11th week.

In March, the United States issued a 30-day sanctions waiver covering Iranian oil already in transit, amid concerns that global energy prices were rising sharply. Prior to the US-Israeli strikes, Iran had been exporting between 40 and 60 million barrels of oil per month — roughly 2% of global supply — using a fleet of ageing tankers largely blacklisted by Western governments but still supplying refineries in Asia.

However, with no indication that Tehran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and amid perceptions in Washington that Iran continues to generate substantial revenue from oil exports, the US shifted course in April, moving to block Iranian ports and detain vessels involved in transporting its crude globally.

By Jeyhun Aghazada