A tanker loaded crude from Iran's Kharg Island terminal Thursday, countering claims from the US that storage at the country's main oil export hub is full and loadings have stopped.
The loading of the roughly 500,000 bl-capacity tanker at Kharg Island would mark the first loading there since 7 May, according to maritime information firm Windward.
Earlier on Thursday, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview on CNBC that there have been no loadings of crude from Iran in the past few days, and that the US believes Iran's oil storage is full.
"None of the ships are getting out. None are coming in. So, they're not able to store oil on the water," Bessent said.
But Iran still maintains significant capacity for storage on the water. Windward estimates that roughly 20 empty tankers are staged nearby to Kharg, with a combined estimated carrying capacity exceeding 25mn bl.
"There are still plenty of cargo-empty tankers both inside and outside the blockade perimeter," vessel information firm TankerTrackers.com said on 12 May.
And empty vessels continue to arrive at Iranian ports, adding to the country's storage capacity. A total of six empty oil and gas carriers have crossed the strait of Hormuz in violation of the US blockade last week without any reported interdictions, according to data from vessel tracking firm Vortexa.
The US imposed a blockade on Iranian ports on 13 April in response to Iran establishing control over the strait of Hormuz after the 28 February start of the US-Iran war. The US' blockade has been successful in significantly curtailing Tehran's oil exports, but it has yet to send Iranian production into the steep decline predicted by US officials.
