3 Iran Tankers Idle in Persian Gulf as Oil Declines Before OPEC
Feb. 9 (Bloomberg)
-- Iran, OPEC’s second-largest crude producer, has at least three supertankers idling in the Persian Gulf, as oil prices decline five weeks before the group’s next meeting, vessel-tracking data show.
The tankers, each bigger than the Chrysler Building, have been almost stationary for at least four weeks, according to data from the ships collected by AIS Live Ltd. The depth of the 2-million-barrel vessels sitting in the water indicates they are loaded. The amount of oil stored may expand because signals from two more idled tankers shows they are partially loaded or empty.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, accounting for about 40 percent of global supply, meets March 17 in Vienna to discuss production quotas after raising output in eight of the last 10 months. Two years ago, Iran used as many as 14 tankers to store oil when purchases by refiners declined.
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