(MarineTraffic Density Maps showing tanker traffic in the Middle East and South Asia in 2019)

A new Iranian oil terminal strategically situated on the Gulf of Oman is scheduled to begin operations this month, offering crude oil tankers direct access to the Indian Ocean bypassing the need to navigate the busy Strait of Hormuz. Its location will reduce pressure on the waterway that sits between Oman and Iran, through which, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration figures, around 21% of global petroleum liquids consumption transited in 2018. 

[Source: EIA]

Bandar-e-Jask Port is located in Kooh Mobarak, situated about 70 km west of the port town of Jask in the country’s south east. It will receive crude oil pumped from an oil field further up the Middle East Gulf coast in Goreh via a 1000km cross-country pipeline. Pumping operations on the Goreh-Jask pipeline reportedly began in May and as oil is scheduled to take less than 30 days to arrive at the terminal, ship loading operations are anticipated to commence this month.

“According to the scheduled programs, we are ready to receive, transfer and load crude oil by export tankers from Makran coastal areas,” Mehr News Agency reported Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC), CEO, Mohammad Meshkin-Faam, as saying on 22 May. POGC is a subsidiary of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) the state-owned entity operating the terminal.

However, Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, has been keeping an eye on the project and using his company’s online crude oil shipments and storage tracker, powered by MarineTraffic data, has observed that oil has yet to reach the new terminal.  He told MarineTraffic that from what he “can see in satellite imagery dated June 14th, the oil which was said to have been sent down the Goreh-Jask pipeline back in May has still not reached the two initial storage tanks at Kooh Mobarak. I believe they are behind schedule.”  

Highlighting that the first and foremost purpose of the terminal is to reduce ships’ journeys by the four to five additional days needed if collecting cargo from oil terminals in the Middle East Gulf, he pointed out that Kooh Mobarak will be outputting various grades of crude oil as well as gas condensate. “This is why they need to have a lot of storage tanks,” he added.

The Gulf of Oman location has the two-fold advantage of not only providing an easy access terminal that sits closer to Iran’s key markets, but also has political value should access in and out of the Middle East Gulf be blocked. 

You can view all tankers currently operating in the Strait of Hormuz using MarineTraffic data.

Related: Using MarineTraffic to monitor the global tanker fleet

The first and foremost purpose of the terminal is to cut down on four to five unnecessary days of travel to other oil terminals. Kooh Mobarak will be outputting various grades of crude oil as well as gas condensate. This is why they need to have a lot of storage tanks.

Iran currently exports most of its oil from Khark Island located 25km off the mainland in the north of the Middle East Gulf. President Hassan Rouhani has stated he wants to see much of the country’s oil export operations move from Khark Island to the new Jask terminal.

“Jask will soon be an important export port for Iranian oil. Until today, if Iranian oil was exported from Khark Island, from now on exports will be made from both Khark and Jask,” Iranian news outlet Shana Petro Energy Information Network reported him saying on 14 June. 

Five members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Iran – along with Qatar, export significant volumes of their oil via the 167km-long Strait. With around a fifth of the world’s oil transiting the Strait each year, it is considered the world’s most important oil choke point. 

According to MarineTraffic data 52 tankers of 5,000 dwt or more called at Khark in the last six months, 33 tankers called at Qatar’s strategically situationed Halul Island, 365 vessels at Iraq’s main port of Al Basrah, and Abu Dhabi’s Ruwais terminal saw 400 vessel calls during the same period. Further north up the coast from Ruwais, is Saudi Arabia port of Ras Tanura, the world’s largest oil terminal, which received 866 vessels over the same period.

Situated in Iran’s southern Hormozgan Province, the new Jask terminal and Goreh-Jask pipeline combined was estimated to cost more than USD2 billion. The pipeline, which was started in June 2020, can pump 300,000 bpd and Jask’s jetties and single point moorings can export two million bpd. The port site also has a current crude oil reservoir capacity of 20 million barrels, with plans to develop a further 80 million barrels. 

The terminal is also equipped with a harbour to support offshore activities, and power generation and distribution systems for the region.

“Production of transmission valves, electric pumps, laying a thousand kilometers of pipeline along with the construction of storage tanks, terminals and the single point mooring (SPM) in Jask port using domestic capacities shows the national determination for completing this great and strategic project,” Masoud Karbasian, CEO of NIOC, was reported as saying the Tehran Times on 22 May, adding the projected will be officially inaugurated by President Hassan Rouhani.

Meanwhile, Iran is preparing to increase its oil exports as talks to lift US sanctions make progress. The new Jask terminal positions the country to meet these aims and potentially reach pre-sanction export volumes.