Iranian oil tankers are clustering just shy of US blockade line

Tankers laden with Iranian oil are clustering off Chabahar, a port in Iran that’s outside the Persian Gulf but just shy of the US blockade line.

Around six to eight supertankers were idling in waters near the port in the Gulf of Oman late last week, according to satellite images and analyses from United Against Nuclear Iran and maritime intelligence firm Windward, with more smaller tankers nearby.

It’s the same area where the US Navy said it had redirected two very large crude carriers that it intercepted last week.

The build-up of tankers at Chabahar is more evidence that Iran is continuing to load oil onto ships, and also that the US blockade appears to be working as an effective barrier to stop the crude getting to customers.

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is now near-zero, and Tehran could soon have to start shutting-in production as storage space runs out.

Some 155 million barrels of Iranian crude are either in transit or floating storage all over the world, according to an estimate from Vortexa.

The US has been increasing its pressure on Tehran by boarding tankers in the Indian Ocean and also sanctioning a major Chinese refiner that it said was a buyer of Iranian oil.

It’s unclear how many more empty tankers are available for Iran to load crude onto, but it appears to be bringing older vessels back into service. 

A 30-year-old VLCC that’s capable of holding up to 2 million barrels of crude last week began signalling from the Persian Gulf after after last having last delivered a cargo three years ago, ship-tracking data show.

The Nasha last broadcast its location four days ago, heading west toward Kharg Island, from where Iran exports most of its oil. BLOOMBERG