Iran Floods Tankers with Oil To Shield Crude From Missile Strikes

Jun 20, 2025

Iran Loads Every Available Barrel of Oil on Its Tankers 

Following confrontation with the prospect of the Trump Administration potentially attacking its infrastructure, Iran has been maximizing exports and sending as much produced crude as possible to its terminal in Kharg Island.

According to Oilprice.com news, Iran’s main crude oil loading port, Kharg has a capacity to store approximately 28 million barrels of oil, and recent satellite imagery indicates most tanks are completely full, adding some 5 million barrels over the past week.

Since Israel attacked Iran on June 13, Tehran has been exporting an average of 2.2 million b/d of crude, equivalent to two large Suezmax tankers a day, putting oil on tankers so that it doesn’t get targeted by Israeli missiles. 

Concurrently, Iran has also cleared the perimeter of the Kharg Island terminal – if a week ago there were 17 tankers awaiting loading in front of the port itself, by now all ships are dispersed across the Gulf to avoid collateral damage.  

Shippers Demand Insurance Premium as Gulf War Looms

Shipping companies are increasingly wary of sending their tankers to lift oil and refined products from the Persian Gulf, with the daily average of unladen ships destined for the eight Middle Eastern countries in the Gulf averaging 712 this week, the lowest since 2021.

QatarEnergy, the pre-eminent Middle Eastern LNG exporter, instructed all its tankers to remain outside the Strait of Hormuz

Oilprice.com