I read an article on this yesterday -- not certain if it was linked to from a post here, or I just ran across it in my daily reading.

The oil being stockpiled is heavy crude, it sells at a discount to light sweet crude, and it can't be refined in all refineries. The problem Iran has is that it can't sell the oil, but if it even contemplates cutting production, it'll get hit with tons of pressure. So what choice does it have? Pump the oil out onto the ground?

It's not that big of a buildup, seriously. Last I heard, it was 4-5 tankers, holding maybe 2 million barrels each.

As for why, that's an easy one. Have you seen the condition of Iran's land-based storage tanks? Talk about dilapitated!

It appears to me the average supertanker can carry 2 million barrels per day. 30/2 is 15 supertankers! Can this be right?

Could this be manufactured "news" in order to blame Iran for “hording oil” and/or for the higher oil prices?

Something doesn't smell right.

I didn't see the previous article claiming 30 million barrels. That's a lot more significant than 10 million, to be sure. Not so much for the volume of oil, but for the number of tankers that are being taken out of circulation. There are only something like 500 tankers out there. Taking 15 out of the supply chain for an indefinite period could be disruptive.

It should be noted however, that the article doesn't actually say they are holding 30 million barrels. It says the "ships can hold more than 30 million barrels". It's only a semantic difference at this point really, but it could be relevant at a later date.

Interesting observation Jato. Something doesn't sound right to me either, and your observation makes as much or more sense than any other. There was an oil analyst on t.v. the other night saying it didn't make sense for Iran to withhold oil at today's prices. The same analyst also said what others have said, if they are going to withhold it, just don't pump it bc its too expensive to store in tankers (that costs Iran money, doesn't make them money). So, manufactured news? Do we need an enemy to blame high prices on? Makes sense. In fact, it makes the most sense of any observation until someone else can come up with something just as plausible.

I would like to know who is reporting the tankers sitting there full of oil. Where do these reports come from? Has anyone credible reported this like Petrologistics etc?

Another piece in the Guardian: Iran confirms supertanker for 90-day crude storage



$616,000 in rentals. They'd only need to sell about 6k barrels at contract prices to recoup that - or are there additional fees? There are 4,024 tankers in service (including VLCC) - can the slack be taken up elsewhere? How much is Iran still exporting in the meantime?

Questions, questions. Meanwhile:

Iran says OPEC will not boost output | Business | Reuters.co.uk

--> LINK <--

Of course it is. Anyone who wants to pay $127 pb can.

Do you have an opinion on this? It seems to jibe with your "plenty of oil" position.

(and are you related to "Oil Finder" ?)

OF2, has a habit of using Straw man arguments.
Either that or cherry picking data and trying to extrapolate it to infinity.

don't feed the troll...

Yeah its just as satutated as the iranian desert

Oh, and peakers don't use those tactics? Uhhh, yeah . . .


I dunno, maybe the guy is right, and maybe he isn't. I was just reporting his opinion. You have lots of people these days saying oil supplies are tight, and lots of others are saying there is plenty of oil out there. This forum is dominated by the opinions saying supplies are tight, so I thought it would be a nice idea to report a contrary opinion.

Yes I am the same as "Oil-Finder." When there was the issue with the lost passwords a few months ago, I was unable to log back in with my old account to change my password, so I created a new account.

Iran hopes there is enough oil itself, least it may see a return of oil product shortages it experienced last summer.

I posted well over a year ago long term predictions that by about 2016 - more or less - Iran will seize to be a net oil exporter. About then, Iran will be joining the US in calling for OPEC members to increase production.

That's sounds funny now, but I think by then, we may all be crying together.

It reminds me of one of those all you can eat restaurants where you eat a portion of food and ask for more and your server tells you:

"That's all you can eat."

Oh my Brother's, what one can see on the viddy!

Iran has marshalled a fleet of supertankers to store up to 28 million barrels of crude oil in the Gulf close to its main Kharg Island crude export terminal and more supertankers are lining up.

They have done this before, when they could not find any buyers for their crude.....but thats not the case these days.

Is this an attempt to manipulate market prices? Perhaps something more sinister??? Do they know something we don't know?? Could Bin Ladin and his merry men be planning a little mayham?? Now is good time to strike!!

I love a good conspiracy theory!!