Iran Plans First Oil Export From Gulf of Oman Port Next Week

By Arsalan Shahla (Bloomberg) Iran plans to ship a cargo of oil from a port in the Gulf of Oman next week, its first crude export from outside the Persian Gulf and beyond the Strait of Hormuz. 

“The first vessel has arrived in the Jask region and we expect operations to load heavy crude to start Monday noon,” Vahid Maleki, director of the Jask Oil Terminal, told the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

He didn’t elaborate on the size of the cargo or its destination.

The port, which receives oil through the 1,000-kilometer (620 mile) Goreh-Jask pipeline stretching across the Persian Gulf coast, is expected to be able to export 350,000 barrels of oil per day in its first phase.

Most of Iran’s oil exports currently pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping channel in the Persian Gulf that was plunged into crisis after former U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal and reinforced sanctions on Iran’s oil sector and wider economy.

Iran’s Oil Minister said this month his country has taken “many measures” to ensure it can raise crude production in “a very short time” if U.S. sanctions are lifted. 

World powers have worked for months trying to broker an agreement between Iran and the U.S. that would restore Washington’s membership of the 2015 nuclear accord. A seventh round of talks in Vienna is expected to convene around mid-August, two officials said this week. 

By Arsalan Shahla © 2021 Bloomberg L.P.

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