Bloomberg: Some Middle Eastern countries ignore bans, secretly transporting oil through the Strait of Hormuz
Bloomberg reports that despite being in a state of war with Iran and the strategic strait being blockaded, Middle Eastern oil-exporting nations have established a covert oil transportation scheme. Tankers from the UAE, Iraq, Qatar, and Kuwait are turning off their transponders as they pass through the strait to avoid attacks, then transferring crude oil to larger vessels in the Gulf of Oman. According to sources, the scale of this "backdoor shipping" exceeds 4 million barrels per day.
Market participants refer to this practice as an "implicit agreement," which has helped keep Brent crude prices within the $80–90 per barrel range—significantly lower than the initial market projections of $150 per barrel at the start of the conflict. The UAE's national oil company, ADNOC, confirmed it will continue its fuel supply operations despite the risks; since the outbreak of conflict, the company has suffered attacks on 23 ships, resulting in one sailor killed and 20 injured. Unidentified floating oil slicks have already been detected in the Gulf of Oman, indicating the environmental consequences of these clandestine operations.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1873727006110728/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author