Iran’s Tanker Blacklist Raises New Risks for Gulf Oil

Three Indian refining companies and “a global energy major” will stop using tankers included in a black list that Iran issued earlier on Sunday in response to U.S. sanctions, Reuters has reported, citing unnamed sources.

The list includes 45 vessels that, according to Tehran, had violated its rules for traversing the Strait of Hormuz. The statement also warned Iran would take action against any of these vessels if they are used to carry cargo via the waterway. According to Reuters, the clampdown will affect so-called shuttles that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are using to get oil out of the Persian Gulf and transfer it to larger tankers for export.

“We will avoid our chartered vessels dealing or STS or anything to do with non-compliant ships for Middle Eastern cargoes,” one of the unnamed Reuters sources who works at an Indian refinery said. Iran has warned that vessels on its black list, if caught, could be fined, detained, and their cargo confiscated, per a social media statement by the new Iranian Persian Gulf Strait Authority.

The black list announcement came a day before the U.S. Treasury announced its new sanction package against Tehran. According to the official Monday announcements, the new sanctions include brokers, companies, and vessels operating across the UAE, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Switzerland, and Europe that transport Iranian oil and channel revenues to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian entities.

Citing other sources, Reuters reported that shipping companies are also discussing whether or not to suspend ship-to-ship transfers in the Persian Gulf for fear of Iranian punishment under the new rules. For the broader market, this means the Strait of Hormuz paralysis might just get worse, as the U.S. squeezes Iran-related tankers and Iran squeezes other countries’ vessels used to carry crude out of the Persian Gulf.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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