Iran stores oil on aging tankers as US blockade squeezes exports - FT

Iran is being forced to store oil on aging tankers anchored in the Persian Gulf as a US blockade squeezes its ability to export to the Far East, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

About 39 tankers carrying Iranian oil and petrochemicals were currently in the Persian Gulf, up from 29 before the blockade came into force on April 13, the report said, citing data from United Against Nuclear Iran.

Many vessels had built up near Iran’s Kharg Island oil export terminal, it added.

The FT and UANI also identified 13 suspected tankers moored off Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman, just within what the report described as the theoretical US Navy blockade line.

The buildup points to the apparent effect of the blockade, which aims to subject Iranian vessels or ships suspected of carrying Iranian cargo to US Navy searches and seizures, the FT reported.