Tankers loaded with Iranian oil are piling up near Chabahar, an Iranian port outside the Persian Gulf but in front of the U.S. blockade line. About six to eight supertankers were idled in the waters near the port in the Gulf of Oman late last week, with smaller tankers nearby. According to estimates by Vortexa Ltd., a leading analytics platform that uses artificial intelligence and satellite data to track global energy flows, about 155 million barrels of Iranian crude are in transit or in floating storage around the world, Bloomberg writes.
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Late last week, according to satellite imagery and analysis by United Against Nuclear Iran, an influential U.S. nonprofit that aims to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power, and Windward, a maritime intelligence company, about six to eight supertankers were in the waters near the port in the Gulf of Oman, along with a number of smaller tankers. This is the same area where the U.S. Navy said two very large crude oil tankers were diverted last week.
The tanker buildup in Chabahar is further evidence that Iran is continuing to load oil onto ships, and that the US blockade appears to be working as an effective barrier to prevent crude from reaching customers. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is now almost zero, and Tehran may soon be forced to cut production as storage space runs out.
Vortexa Ltd. estimates that about 155 million barrels of Iranian crude are in transit or in floating storage around the world. The United States is increasing pressure on Tehran by seizing tankers in the Indian Ocean and imposing sanctions on a major Chinese refinery it says is a buyer of Iranian oil.
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It is unclear how many more empty tankers Iran has available to load crude oil, but it appears to be putting older vessels back into service.
Meanwhile, talks between the US and Iran in Pakistan were in jeopardy, but Iran made an offer to the US.
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