Iran rushes out oil exports as tensions with US flare again

Iran has rushed out oil tankers carrying roughly 11 million barrels of crude in the past 24 hours as tensions flare again with the US and President Donald Trump threatens to reimpose a blockade on its ports.

Five supertankers and one Suezmax were observed leaving Iranian ports, with four of the vessels signaling positions in the Gulf of Oman and another transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

The flotilla emerged as the US military struck Iran for a second day in response to Tehran’s recent attacks on vessels, threatening to unravel a shaky peace deal between the two countries. The renewed instability has instilled caution among other shippers and brought most other visible traffic through Hormuz to a halt.


The fresh disruption roiled oil prices, which traded near $79 a barrel in London on Thursday, up almost 9% this week.

Eleven million barrels is roughly equivalent to a week of Iran’s pre-war exports, although it’s unclear whether there will be buyers for the shipments. Earlier this week, tens of millions of barrels of Iranian oil were left effectively in limbo on tankers after the US walked back a waiver that had allowed the Islamic Republic to sell the crude.