Shipping monitor says Iran keeping 21 million barrels of oil in floating storage in Gulf of Oman

Samir Madani, the co-founder of Tankertrackers.com, told AP that the monitoring group used imagery from the European Space Agency’s Copernicus-2 satellite to identify the types of Iranian oil tankers present in the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.

They identified 10 “Very Large Crude Carrier” supertankers – which can hold 2 million barrels of oil each – and 1 Suezmax tanker, which holds 1 million barrels, in the Gulf of Oman as of Sunday, adding up to 21 million barrels.

Iran could be keeping the oil in floating storage to “better regulate exports amid turbulence” or in case of disturbances at Kharg Island, the group said on X.

Kharg island, which the U.S. struck during the war, is home to a terminal through which Iran exports most of its oil.

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