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Updated July 23rd, 2021 at 06:20 IST

Iran launches new oil export terminal near Jask to bypass Strait of Hormuz

“This is a strategic move and an important step for Iran. It will secure the continuation of our oil exports," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said.

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
Iran
IMAGE: AP | Image:self
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In a strategic geopolitical move, Iran on Thursday launched a new oil export terminal located near Jask port that would enable all its tankers and oil cargoes to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, the key global chokepoint between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman patrolled by Islamic Republic’s arch-enemy United States’ warships. 

Calling July 22 a "historic day" ahead of the launch, outgoing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a state televised speech, “This is a strategic move and an important step for Iran. It will secure the continuation of our oil exports.” Furthermore, Rouhani called the project “strategic,” as, for the first time, Iran was able to divert its oil vessels bound for the Arabian Sea from its longtime main oil export terminal,  located at the port of Kharg inside the Strait of Hormuz. 

[Image: Twitter/@JrRezvani]

The ambitious project that started in 2019 has cost Iran $2 billion in total and ends Iranian vessels’ dependency on its main oil export terminal in the island of Kharg. The Associated Press reports that the new oil terminal pumps 30,000 barrels of crude into tankers per hour, via a floating anchored offshore jetty, or single point mooring. 

“82 percent of this project has been completed and so far more than 1.2 billion dollars have been spent on this,” Oil Minister ‌Jan Zanganeh told AP. Rouhani meanwhile told state TV, "We had a terminal and if there was a problem, our oil exports would be cut off," adding that "today is a great, historic day for the Iranian nation”. He continued, “The oil industry is very important for us, and it is also important for the enemy.” 

[Iran's Bandar-e Jask Port. Image: Twitter/@ElyakimBH]

[Image: Twitter/@pjonesbilly]

Strait of Hormuz, the narrowest waterway located on the southern coast of Iran approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) in the Middle East is the key maritime chokepoint for global oil supplies. In 2018, before the pandemic hit, an estimated 21 million barrels of global oil per day traversed through the geopolitically crucial Strait of Hormuz. The commercial shipping in the Gulf of Oman’s strategic and important Strait caters to key global markets, with 76 per cent crude oil bound for Asian countries. China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore are the largest markets for all of Hormuz crude oil cargoes. 

Could Iran block the Strait of Hormuz?

During the skirmishes with the US, such as the United States’ killing of Qasem Soleimani,  an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran had threatened to cut off the channel’s passage, backlogging ships that carry $1.2 billion worth of world’s oil every day. US and Iranian naval vessels have since consistently faced off in the strait of Hormuz. 

In June, Iran's navy's largest vessel IRIS 'Kharg' 431 caught fire under 'mysterious circumstances' near the Iranian port of Jask at 1,270 kilometres (790 miles) southeast of Tehran near the Strait of Hormuz. Kharg, which was named after Iran's primary oil export terminal was on a training mission. US warships and Iranian forces have indulged in  “provocative and hostile” actions as they each destroyed drones and targetted military ships. Two months ago, the US Coast Guard cutter fired multiple warning shots at a group of 13 Iranian vessels that sped toward US Naval vessels in the Strait of Hormuz in what the Pentagon called “unsafe and unprofessional” manoeuvres. 

Iran, last month, also launched at least three oil projects which included a 1000-kilometre-long Goreh-Jaskoil pipeline that runs from Goreh oilfield to Port of Jask in the south of the Islamic Republic. The country said that the pipeline project was launched to build an alternate route for oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz. Separately Iran launched other petrochemical projects, such as the hexane production unit for the Imam Khomeini Refinery in central Iran, and the Miandoab petrochemical complex that would fetch Iran 140,000 tons of growth in petrochemical products. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani hailed the projects at a state televised conference reminding that should the Strait of Hormuz face danger and requires immediate closure, Iran’s oil exports shall not cease. 

“Iran’s oil exports will not be stopped even if international maritime passage closes one day,” Rouhani stressed. 

[Image:Twitter/@ChrliesWarchest]

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Published July 23rd, 2021 at 06:20 IST

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