Imports of Iranian oil by seizing tankers?

The United States seized an Iranian tanker off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in February 2021 sold about 2 million barrels of oil, worth $110 million, according to a U.S. judicial filing.

Reports say that in February, the Liberian-flagged tanker "Achelias" was seized by the United States off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. The US claimed that the oil belonged to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that the shipper had tried to conceal the destination of the tanker by marking it as "light oil Basra, Iraq" that it was seized under "anti-terrorism laws". The government towed the tanker to Houston, Texas, it sold 2m barrels of oil on board for $110m, which is being held in escrow, according to US judicial filings. According to Reuters, when the US seized the tanker "Achelias" in February this year, Iran also sharply denounced "this is clearly a piracy act by the US, it is a great shame that the US carried out such acts under false pretexts".

The US Energy Information Administration disclosed in a report over the weekend that the US "imported" 1.033 million barrels of crude oil petroleum products Iran in March. This is only the second time since 1991 that the United States has imported Iranian oil, with imports of 1.1111 million barrels in October 2020, Reuters said. In response, Iran's oil ministry said that Iran does have data on US oil imports Iran, this information is reasonable because the US is imposing sanctions on Iran. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Khatibzadeh said May 31 he could provide any details. "Since the time of former US President Bill Clinton, [the US side] has bought oil Iran because of their laws."

The Associated Press linked U.S. imports of Iranian oil to the seizure of the Achelias. Some analysts say the United States may have been "importing" itself through normal channels -- in other words, the oil was "withheld" rather than bought by the United States. According to an Associated Press analysis, the United States may have "imported" Iranian oil in 2020 2021 through similar "seizure of oil tankers."

In July 1977, at the height of trade with Iran, the United States imported about 26.5 million barrels of crude oil Iran, the report said. After the 1979 Islamic revolution, US crude oil imports Iran plummeted to zero in a matter of months. In the years that followed, Iranian oil exports to the United States improved, though they fell to zero again after the United States banned imports of Iranian oil in October 1987 to 'punish' Iran for attacks on Persian Gulf tankers during the Iran-Iraq war. President George H.W. Bush allowed a partial lifting of the ban in 1991, but the same year the US again halted oil imports Iran amid rising tensions with the west over its nuclear programme.

For more information about the energy trading platform, please consult Eurasia International Energy Trading Market Management (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of financial service platform, storage logistics platform, hazardous chemicals trading license application platform bulk energy trading platform.

Source: International Petroleum Network