On Thursday, Iran inaugurated an oil terminal located in the Sea of Oman. With this strategic move, Tehran aims to reduce the impact of US sanctions on its overseas oil shipments by bypassing the strategically vulnerable Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Iran’s outgoing President Hassan Rouhani described the oil terminal as “strategic” and “an important step” for Iran. Stating that the terminal would assure the continuation of Iran’s oil exports, Rouhani added, “This new crude export terminal shows the failure of Washington’s sanctions on Iran.”
According to Rouhani’s statement, 1 million barrels of oil per day is aimed to be dispatched from the Port of Jask, which would sub for Kharg terminal inside the Strait of Hormuz. Also, Rouhani said, “The first shipment of 100 tons of crude oil is being loaded today outside the Strait of Hormuz.”
Officials who have knowledge on the project stated that the terminal has three pipelines and can export heavy crude, light crude, and gas condensate.
Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh also made statements regarding the new oil terminal. Highlighting that the project was materialized through an investment of around $2 billion, Zanganeh said Iran would export its oil through another way other than the Strait of Hormuz for the first time in its 110-years history of the oil industry.
The project, which covers a 100-km pipeline and the oil terminal in Jask, started in June 2020 and was carried out by Iran’s Petroleum Ministry. The pipeline was built between Goureh oil terminal in Iran’s southwestern province of Bushehr and the Jask terminal.
About a fifth of the world’s oil shipment from Middle East producers to world markets passes through the Strait of Hormuz located at the mouth of the Gulf. The Strait has frequently witnessed periodic confrontations between Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and US naval forces in the region.
