Iran continues to load millions of barrels of oil onto supertankers, despite the US blockade, raising concerns about future shipments.
Iran is reportedly loading millions of barrels of oil onto supertankers. It is stated that this activity will become increasingly difficult if the U.S. continues its blockade on Tehran's shipping traffic.
Despite the U.S. blockade, Iran continues to load oil. Images taken from the European Union's Sentinel 1 satellite on Monday show a large crude oil tanker, with a capacity of approximately 2 million barrels, docking at the terminal on Kharg Island. A previous image taken on Saturday showed that no ships were docked at Kharg.
Since there is no evidence of large quantities of oil bypassing the U.S. blockade, it is estimated that the loaded crude oil is filling the tankers that Iran has in the region. The image taken on Monday shows 13 vessels anchored to the east of the island. An image taken the day before the blockade began on April 13 indicated that there were about half as many ships.
Iran has made several attempts to break the American blockade. The U.S. Navy announced that it had stopped at least two supertankers in the Gulf of Oman this week. This situation caused the mentioned and other vessels to turn back and head towards an Iranian port, and tankers and other ships were seen piling up off Iran's Chabahar port, near the Pakistan border.
Since the outbreak of war in the Middle East at the end of February, Iran has become the only major country exporting oil from the Persian Gulf after effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz to other maritime traffic. Decreased shipments will also negatively impact Tehran's oil revenues, which form the backbone of the country's economy.
The U.S. actions could ultimately force Iran to restrict its production if tankers are unable to transit. In a note dated April 21, analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. stated that this step would "restrict volumes not only financially but mechanically as well, utilize alternative trade routes much less, and over time force Iran to limit its production."
According to a note from FGE NexantECA, Iran has 90 million barrels of usable oil reserves, and even if the U.S. blockade successfully halts the country's exports, it could sustain its oil production at the current daily level of approximately 3.5 million barrels for another two months.
Source: SeaNews Türkiye
