SINGAPORE, June 24 (Reuters) – On Wednesday, three tankers carrying a total of 5 million barrels of crude oil were leaving the Strait of Hormuz. Two of these vessels are heading to Asia. This movement comes as a tem...
SINGAPORE, June 24 (Reuters) – On Wednesday, three tankers carrying a total of 5 million barrels of crude oil were leaving the Strait of Hormuz. Two of these vessels are heading to Asia. This movement comes as a temporary deal between Iran and the U.S. allows for more oil supply from the Gulf, which is helping to lower global oil prices.
The VL Breeze, a South Korean-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier, is transporting 2 million barrels of Qatari condensate and Abu Dhabi crude. It is currently on its way to Daesan, according to data from LSEG and Kpler. This tanker is chartered by Hyundai Oilbank, a South Korean refinery.
Another vessel, the Plata Carrier, is a Very Large Crude Carrier chartered by Indian Oil Corp. It is leaving the strait with 2 million barrels of Saudi crude. Alongside it, the Suezmax tanker Prudent Warrior is heading to Sohar, Oman, carrying 1 million barrels of Iraqi Basrah crude. Both tankers are sailing under the Liberian flag.
Hyundai Oilbank and Indian Oil Corp have not responded for comments yet.
Last week, analysts from Kpler and Vortexa estimated that around 90 million barrels of crude were still stuck in the Gulf.
On Wednesday, South Korea's maritime ministry reported that four vessels operated by South Korean companies have successfully exited the strait and are now headed to their destinations – one returning to South Korea and the others going to different countries.
Among the 26 vessels that had been stranded since the onset of the Middle East conflict, 18 remain in the Gulf, according to the ministry.
It is unclear if these ships are using the temporary maritime routes set up by Oman and the International Maritime Organization to allow safe passage for vessels leaving the region.
Oman has announced that it will keep the Strait of Hormuz open for shipping without charging any fees. They have also designated two temporary routes north and south of the existing shipping lane to assist ships departing safely.
Additionally, two empty liquefied natural gas tankers, the Shandong Redwood and Milaha Qatar, have been spotted west of the strait preparing to load cargoes from Qatar, according to shipping data.
This brings the total number of empty LNG ships passing through the strait to load at Qatar to nine, marking the highest count since the conflict began.
Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani stated that the Gulf state would return to normal LNG production within a few weeks, as reported by the Financial Times on Wednesday.