SEATTLE (Oil Monster): The Dubai Energy, an oil tanker chartered by state-owned oil supplier CPC Corp, Taiwan and carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil, is expected to arrive in Taiwan in the middle of next month after exiting the Strait of Hormuz, CPC said yesterday.
CPC’s confirmation came after a Reuters report earlier in the day said that the Dubai Energy, which had been stranded for more than three months due to the war in the Middle East, left the Strait of Hormuz overnight and is bound for Kaohsiung.
The Dubai Energy, one of two very large crude carriers (VLCCs) stranded by the war, is carrying 2 million barrels of Abu Dhabi and Saudi crude oil, the Reuters report said, citing ship-tracking data.
Another VLCC — the Universal Glory, chartered by South Korean refiner GS Caltex — also exited the strait, Reuters said.
The Dubai Energy completed the loading of 2 million barrels of crude oil before the US-Israel war against Iran broke out at the end of February, and had previously planned to pass through the strait in early March, CPC said.
However, the conflict in the Middle East resulted in the blockade of the strait and the shipment was delayed, it added.
The 2 million barrels of crude oil would be assigned to CPC’s oil refinery plants in Dalin Refinery in Kaohsiung and Taoyuan Refinery based on market demand, the oil supplier said.
More ships are transiting the strait with their satellite signals switched on, pointing to growing confidence among shipowners and traders about sending vessels through the world’s most important energy chokepoint.
Seven tankers, including two fully-laden non-Iranian supertankers, were either in the strait or had already crossed yesterday, vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
All of them were broadcasting their location, the data showed.
The shift “reflects a degree of strengthening confidence among shipowners, as Iran is expected to refrain from targeting vessels,” Kpler Ltd senior oil analyst Muyu Xu said.
Still, it remains to be seen whether safe and unrestricted passage would indeed materialize, Xu added.
Courtesy: www.taipeitimes.com
