Iran Blacklist Targets Major Oil Producers' Tanker Fleet
Tehran has announced a blacklist of 45 ships that have allegedly broken its rules for crossing the Strait of Hormuz, escalating tensions over the key waterway for global energy supplies.
The list includes tankers owned or chartered by Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC), which have been used for shuttling crude, refined products, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) out of the Gulf for ship-to-ship transfers off Fujairah in the UAE or Sohar, Oman.
At least three Indian oil refiners and a global energy major plan to stop using vessels on Iran's blacklist due to security concerns, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
The announcement is designed to impede shuttle runs Gulf oil producers have undertaken to move oil from the Gulf through Hormuz for unloading through STS transfers in the Gulf of Oman onto ships to end-users.