DMEA: Iran moves to contain oil spill off Kharg island

Iranian authorities have been battling to contain an oil spill that occurred on October 17, 6.4 km away from its main crude oil export terminal on Kharg Island, according to a report made by Iranian media outlet IRNA.

A local official revealed that the spill had originated from subsea pipelines, according to IRNA, who added that the “required actions” had since been put in place.

90% of the country’s oil exports are currently shipped from the terminal, which had recently been evacuated of tankers by state-owned National Iranian Tanker Co. following threats of attack from Israel. Tasnim news agency quoted Iran’s Director General of the Regional Ports and Maritime Organisation, Mohammad Shakibi-Nasab, who confirming IRNA’s report, noting that two oil slicks had indeed been spotted.

So far, analysts such as Kpler have said that they are unsure of whether tanker loadings will be affected. If they are, Iran would suffer a serious blow – with tanker shipments having already declined by 70% at the start of October due to fears of Israeli retaliatory strikes.

Data gathered from tanker tracking companies showed Iranian oil exports had fallen to 600,000 barrels per day in 10 days from the start of the month – a notable change when compared to the usual amount of 1.4mn bpd per month recorded previously.

Reports of an oil spill have emerged at a bad time for Iran, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said that the country would “pay” for the 180-missile strike it conducted on Israel on October 1. According to Reuters, Israel has reportedly been considering an attack on Iranian oil infrastructure in response.

On top of this, the US has also gotten involved – unleashing fresh sanctions on numerous companies associated with Iran’s oil and petrochemical sectors following Tehran’s attack.

The decision was revealed in a statement made by the US’s Treasury Department on October 11 which noted that it would be targeting Iran’s “shadow fleet” – ships that are engaged in selling Iranian oil in defiance of existing sanctions.

10 companies and 17 vessels have since been designated as “blocked property” due to their complicity in shipping Iranian products abroad.

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