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By Emily Chow, Florence Tan and Nerijus Adomaitis
- Three stranded VLCCs exited strait on Tuesday, data show
- Seven Qatar-linked ballast LNG tankers enter Hormuz, data show
- No widespread movement of empty LNG vessels toward Gulf still
SINGAPORE/OSLO, June 23 (Reuters) – Three stranded supertankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, while seven empty Qatar-linked liquefied natural gas tankers have entered in recent weeks in an early sign Gulf gas shipping may be resuming, ship-tracking data showed.
Iranian-linked tankers also continued to transit the vital waterway, according to the data, with traffic picking up on Monday as U.S.-Iran talks progressed.
The first round of talks, which began on Sunday, concluded a day later with both sides agreeing on a roadmap toward a permanent deal within 60 days. The U.S. also announced a waiver until August 21 on sanctions, easing concerns over global oil and LNG supplies and pushing prices lower.
More crude oil cargoes stranded in the Gulf since the start of the war are expected to make their way out now, analysts say, while a growing number of sanctioned tankers have been plying the strait to load and export Iranian oil after the U.S. waived sanctions.
Two Trafigura-operated Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), each carrying 2 million barrels of crude, exited the strait on Tuesday.
One, Dubai Energy, was chartered by Taiwanese state energy firm CPC, and the second, Legio X Equestris was chartered by TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), LSEG and Kpler data showed.
CPC, TotalEnergies and Trafigura were not immediately available for comment.
Another VLCC, Universal Glory, chartered by South Korean refiner GS Caltex, also left thee strait on Tuesday with 2 million barrels of Saudi crude onboard, the data showed.
GS Caltex declined to comment.
Two sanctioned Suezmax tankers — Sobar and Sarak — were heading into the strait on Tuesday, the data showed. Each of them can carry 1 million barrels of oil.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Tuesday that 19 millions barrels of oil flowed out of the Strait of Hormuz on Monday.
Reuters was not able to independently verify that number.
QATAR-LINKED LNG TANKERS
Seven ballast QatarEnergy-controlled tankers moved west into the Gulf to reload between June 11 and June 22, ship-tracking data from Vortexa and Kpler showed, the first such voyages since the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28.
The first three of those — Al Hamla, Al Areesh and Al Khuwair — had done so with their automatic tracking system off, Vortexa report showed.
According to Kpler data, the three tankers were last seen outside the strait in mid-June and reappeared on ship-tracking between June 19 and June 23.
The remaining four — Wadi Al Sail, Mekaines, Al Sadd and Mesaimeer — entered the strait on Monday via the Iranian route.
QatarEnergy did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside their business hours.
It is the largest number of empty LNG ships transiting through the strait since the war began, Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Vivek Dhar said.
“Other empty LNG tankers are also on their way to Qatar. The ship-tracking data reinforces expectations that QatarEnergy will meet their LNG ramp-up schedule,” he said.
There was an explosion at a gas processing facility inside the Ras Laffan industrial complex on Monday, but the energy minister said Qatar’s LNG facilities were not impacted.
As for QatarEnergy-controlled tankers moving in the opposite direction, Al Ghashamiya, which according to Kpler data was last seen inside the strait on June 9 with a cargo from Ras Laffan it loaded on March 1, reappeared outside the strait on June 22.
Widespread movement of ballast Qatari and ADNOC vessels toward the Gulf is yet to be seen, reflecting a cautious and phased restart strategy, S&P Global Energy analyst Ayush Agarwal said.
Mines remain a threat, the U.S.-led Joint Maritime Information Center said, preventing vessels from using the main shipping lane that was in operation before the war.
Sailings through the Strait of Hormuz are still a fraction of the roughly 125 daily crossings seen before the Iran war began.
Note: The southern transit route along Omani coast has been confirmed clear of mines and is the recommended route.
Source: Joint Maritime Information Center; Marine TrafficNora Buli
Reporting by Emily Chow and Florence Tan in Singapore, Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo; additional reporting by Heejin Kim in Seoul, Ahmad Ghaddar in London and America Hernandez in Paris; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Tomasz Janowski
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