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LONDON—Iran, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries’ (Opec) second-largest oil producer, increased
the number of tankers idling in the Persian Gulf to at
least 14, indicating it may be storing more crude,
ship-tracking data show.
Iran
has at least 14 very large crude carriers, or VLCCs,
floating near Kharg Island, a loading facility. In April
there were 10, holding at least 20 million barrels of
oil, people familiar with the situation said at the
time. Shipbrokers also reported that Iran hired three
more tankers, which have been near
Kharg Island
for at least two weeks.
Iran
has a glut of its sulfur-rich crude because refineries
that can process the fuel shut down for maintenance. The
discount on Iranian heavy crude compared with Oman and
Dubai petroleum has widened for three consecutive months
to its biggest since January 2007, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg. Earnings from supertankers more
than tripled from April to May.
The use
of vessels for storage has been a “component of the
rise” in rental rates, Mathieu Philippe, a tanker broker
at Barry Rogliano Salles in Dubai, said by phone. Rates
have also been bolstered by record crude output by the
Opec and reduced demand for single-hull tankers that
increase the risk of oil spills, he said.
The 14
supertankers are capable of storing as much as 28
million barrels of oil, equal to about 12 days of Iran’s
total output. The three tankers hired by National
Iranian Tanker Co. can store another 5 million barrels
between them.
Iran
will start cutting the amount of crude stored on tankers
this month, Energy Intelligence reported on its web site
May 29, citing Hojatolla Ghanimifard, executive director
of international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Co.
The
said VLCCs are all able to ship, or store, at least 2
million barrels of crude. Their expected arrival and
when they were last seen are from AISLive ship-tracking
data. It normally takes 24 hours to 48 hours to load a
cargo of crude and set sail. (With reporting from
Tehran. Bloomberg) |
