Iran plans to move its main oil export terminal from the Persian Gulf to a terminal in the Sea of Oman, AFP quoted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as saying.
Moving the main oil export terminal from Kharg Island terminal to Bandar-e Jask would result in Iranian oil tankers not having to pass through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, which is being used for exports by both Iran and its rivals in the area, including Saudi Arabia, Oil Price reported.
"Iranian oil export volumes are already being shifted from Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf to the terminal in the Sea of Oman, and the move should be completed by 2021," AFP quoted Rouhani as saying.
“This is very important for me; it is a very strategic issue for me. A major part of our oil sales must move from Kharg to Jask.”
The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most important chokepoint, with an oil flow of 18.5 million bpd in 2016, the EIA estimates.
As the first round of US sanctions on Iran kicked in last month and the second round of sanctions—including on Iranian oil exports—is set to snap back in early November, the Islamic Republic has recently stepped up rhetoric about controlling the most vital oil flow chokepoint in the world.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rebuffed Iran’s claims, saying in a statement posted on Twitter: “The Islamic Republic of Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz.”
Rouhani also said that Iran would continue to export oil despite US efforts to choke all of Tehran’s oil sales.
“We will continue by all means to both produce and export” oil, AP quoted him as saying. “Oil is in the frontline of confrontation and resistance.”
According to some analysts briefed by Bloomberg, Iran may resort to various ways of reducing the impact of the US sanctions on its oil exports, and those tactics include secret oil shipments without trackers on tankers, bartered trades, discounts and extended credit periods on oil sales.
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