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Iran Oil Loadings Reportedly Halt at Key Export Hub as Storage Fills, Bloomberg Says

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Oil shipments from Iran's main export hub appear to have halted for several consecutive days, according to satellite imagery, marking the longest interruption in tanker activity since the start of the war, a Bloomberg analysis showed on Tuesday.

European satellite images reviewed by Bloomberg showed no ocean-going oil tankers moored at Iran's Kharg Island export terminal on May 8, 9, or 11. While the facility has occasionally stood empty for a day at a time since hostilities began, the latest stretch is the first sustained pause in visible loading activity.

Iran had continued loading crude throughout the conflict, often using tankers as floating storage after the US Navy effectively blocked their transit out of the Persian Gulf in mid-April.

A prolonged shutdown at Kharg Island could intensify pressure on Iran's remaining storage capacity, which satellite analysis suggests is rapidly filling. Analysts differ on how much spare capacity remains, but a full storage system could force Tehran into deeper production cuts.

Images from the European Union's Sentinel-2 satellite on May 11 showed all berths at the terminal empty. Similar images taken two and three days earlier also showed no tankers docked.

Satellite coverage is incomplete because Sentinel satellites do not image every location daily. Still, Kharg Island had not appeared empty for more than a single day since the US and Israel launched attacks on Feb. 28. Of 33 available satellite observations since then, only two earlier images showed no tankers present.

Meanwhile, a growing fleet of tankers has gathered near Iranian waters. The number of very large crude carriers anchored east of Kharg Island rose from three on Apr. 11 to at least 18 vessels of various sizes by May 11. Additional ships have clustered near Chabahar, close to Iran's border with Pakistan.

Analysts say many of the vessels likely contain unsold crude stranded by the US naval blockade, while others may be empty ships unable to enter the Gulf for new cargoes.

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