US naval blockade is squeezing Iran’s oil exports and hurting economy, shows data

The US naval blockade of Iranian ports has shrunk Tehran’s oil exports a great deal, stranding an increasing stockpile of crude on tankers as Iranian storage sites run out of space, analysts said, citing shipping data.

With some vessels switching off tracking systems due to the blockade and threat of being targeted, it is not possible to quantify how much crude Iran is delivering to customers, particularly main customer China.

Oil analytics firm Vortexa said that just a handful of carriers carrying Iranian crude have left the Gulf of Oman between April 13 and 25.

“At this stage, we estimate that around 4 million barrels of Iranian crude have successfully moved out of the Gulf of Oman. We are not currently able to confirm whether any of those vessels have since been interdicted,” said a Reuters report, citing the analytics firm.

That’s a drop of over 80% from a comparable period in March, when Iran exported 23.4 million barrels, according to LSEG data.

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US authorities said on Wednesday that their blockade is denying Tehran much-needed revenue from crude exports.

Some of Tehran’s vessels have been intercepted by the US after leaving Iranian ports, along with sanctioned container ships and Iranian tankers in Asian waters.

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Iran’s currency has hit ‘all-time low’: Scott Bessent

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on social media on Thursday that Iran’s currency has “hit an all-time low”, and that “the Iranian people deserve a new era, which the corrupt and shambolic Iranian regime cannot provide.”

“It is past time for the Iranian regime to concede that the people of Iran deserve much better than the ruins of their current regime can provide,” Bessent wrote.

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Iran war ‘supercharging’ energy transition: UN climate chief

Meanwhile, the UN climate chief has said that the Middle East conflict is “supercharging” the world’s pivot to renewable energy, as countries scramble to reduce exposure to volatile oil and gas markets.

“Those who’ve fought to keep the world hooked on fossil fuels are inadvertently supercharging the global renewables boom,” said Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the UN’s climate secretariat UNFCCC.

The war has upended oil and gas supplies, prompting some countries to ration fuel and others to roll out subsidies and tax cuts to shield consumers from surging prices.

Early signs indicate the war has accelerated the low-carbon transition of some countries.

Demand for rooftop solar systems has surged in Europe, while Pakistan and other countries have reported a jump in electric vehicle sales.