Iranian storage poses shipping headache
Iran may face crude transportation bottlenecks if and when sanctions are lifted
Iran and Western powers are back negotiating a tentative nuclear agreement, raising the possibility that sanctions on Iranian crude might be lifted once more. But despite Iran having huge stocks of crude already in storage, the country may experience bottlenecks—at least initially—with shipping that glut, given the state of its domestic fleet, concerns among other shipowners and insurance stipulations and requirements. State-run news agency IRNA claims that there are currently 78mn bl of Iranian crude stored aboard “tankers in Asian waters”. Energy market analytics firm Vortexa estimates that 36 tankers—comprising 31 very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and five Suezmax vessels—from the state-
Also in this section
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
17 February 2026
Siemens Energy has been active in the Kingdom for nearly a century, evolving over that time from a project-based foreign supplier to a locally operating multi-national company with its own domestic supply chain and workforce
17 February 2026
Eni’s chief operating officer for global natural resources, Guido Brusco, takes stock of the company’s key achievements over the past year, and what differentiates its strategy from those of its peers in the LNG sector and beyond
16 February 2026
As the third wave of global LNG arrives, Wood Mackenzie’s director for Europe gas and LNG, Tom Marzec-Manser, discusses with Petroleum Economist the outlook for Europe’s gas market in 2026
