Two oil tankers were hit in Iraqi waters, the latest in a string of attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf that are raising risks to global energy supply from the deepening Middle East war.The strikes on the vessels off the coast of Iraq prompted the nation’s oil terminals to suspend operations. The latest developments point to an increase in retaliatory action from Iran, adding to pessimism that the conflict will persist for longer.
Attacks on vessels have intensified in recent days. The UK Maritime Trade Operations said on Thursday that a ship was struck by an unknown projectile just north of Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates, while a spokesperson for the Thai Navy said a cargo vessel was hit on Wednesday. The Thai-flagged Mayuree Naree — a 30,000 deadweight-ton bulk carrier — was attempting to exit Hormuz at the time.
Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil, or SOMO, said the tankers hit in its territorial waters were the Marshall Islands-flagged Safesea Vishnu and the Malta-flagged Zefyros. The country stopped operations at its oil terminals, according to comments from the director of the General Company for Ports of Iraq, carried by Iraqi News agency.
“This event negatively impacts Iraq’s security and economy, and poses a threat to the safety of maritime navigation and oil activities in Iraqi territorial waters,” SOMO said in a statement.
Ships were also ordered to leave the Mina Al Fahal oil terminal in Oman as a precautionary measure. The port was reopened after several hours, with operations and loadings now continuing as usual, according to an emailed statement from the Gulf Mercantile Exchange. Still, the evacuation at Mina Al Fahal, which sits outside of the Strait of Hormuz, shows how the conflict is expanding to threaten the few ports from which Middle Eastern oil can still be shipped.
Disruptions in Oman raises “fears over broader regional supply,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING Groep NV. “The market will have to start worrying about more than just Strait of Hormuz oil flows.”
Global benchmark Brent crude surged as much as 10% on Thursday as the crisis deepened, with even news of a historic 400-million-barrel release of reserves coordinated by the International Energy Agency unable to cool the rally. The record size of the drawdown may have spooked some investors, given the war has been going less than two weeks.
The evacuation order for Mina Al Fahal came after drone attacks at other ports in the country on Wednesday.
Drones also struck fuel tanks at the country’s Salalah Port, while others were intercepted, according to the state-run Oman News Agency, which cited a security source. Salalah has since suspended operations at its container and general cargo terminals, while other Omani ports like Duqm are working normally, according to a report from Inchcape Shipping Services.
“We would have thought the worst-case scenario had already materialized, with the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz lasting for almost two weeks,” said Xu Muyu, senior crude oil analyst at data intelligence firm Kpler Ltd. But the naval evacuation in Oman “suggests the situation could deteriorate further,” she said.
Around 1 million barrels a day of Omani oil are exported from Mina Al Fahal, according to Kpler. The grade was priced at around $132 a barrel on Thursday, well above global benchmark Brent, which is currently near $96 a barrel.
Disruptions at Oman’s crude export terminals are also significant as the grade is one of two that can still go into setting the Middle East’s Dubai price benchmark, which in turn determines the value of most of the region’s supply. Varieties loading from within the Persian Gulf were excluded from the pricing mechanism by S&P Global Energy last week.
S&P Global Energy didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The effective closure of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped, has led to Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia cutting output. Loadings are continuing from Fujairah, the main export terminal for the UAE that sits outside the strait, but some shipowners are avoiding the port due to the risk of attacks. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is sending oil via a pipeline to Yanbu on its Red Sea coast.
“While we are set to see a record coordinated release of emergency stockpiles, the pace that these supplies will hit the market only covers a fraction of the supply losses we are seeing,” ING’s Patterson said.
Photograph: An oil tanker. Photo credit: Marcelo del Pozo/Bloomberg
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