/bp-oil-tanker-shelters-in-persian-gulf-

  • BP Oil Tanker Shelters in Persian Gulf, Fearing Iran Seizure - Bloomberg
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-08/bp-oil-tanker-shelters-in-persian-gulf-on-fear-of-iran-seizure

    • British Heritage was scheduled to sail from Iraq to Europe
    • Former Revolutionary Guard leader threatened British ships

    An oil tanker run by BP Plc is being kept inside the Persian Gulf in fear it could be seized by Iran in a tit-for-tat response to the arrest by Gibraltar last week of a vessel hauling the Islamic Republic’s crude.

    The British Heritage, able to haul about 1 million barrels of oil, was sailing toward Iraq’s Basrah terminal in the south of country when it made an abrupt u-turn on July 6. It’s now off Saudi Arabia’s coast and a person with knowledge of the matter says BP’s concern is that it could become a target if Iran seeks to retaliate for the seizure near Gibraltar — by British Royal Marines — of the tanker Grace 1 on July 4.

    BP’s decision shows how rising tensions between Iran and the west are having an impact on the oil tanker industry that’s vital to the global trade in crude. Tehran’s foreign ministry said the arrest of Grace 1 was an act of piracy and a former leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Twitter the Islamic Republic should take a British tanker in response. The U.S. accused Iran of recent attacks on tankers just outside the Persian Gulf.
    […]
    The ship, registered in the Isle of Man and flying under the British flag, had been chartered by Royal Dutch Shell Plc to transport crude from Basrah to northwest Europe, tracking data and shipbrokers said. It didn’t collect that cargo and the booking was canceled.

    British Heritage won’t be able to exit the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint through which about a third of global seaborne oil moves, without sailing close to Iran’s coast, thereby placing it at greater risk.