Tanker Ship from UK Finally Leaves Iranian Port

The British tanker ship finally left Iran after suffering from capture two months ago. The tanker ship flagged Stena Impero sailed away from Iran’s Bandar Abbas port on Friday.

The departure of the Stena Impero from the Iranian port was confirmed by a local Iranian shipping organization on Friday.

According to reports, the British tanker ship is heading for the Rashid port in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai’s Port Rashid is about 250 km or 155 miles away from the Bandar Abbas port, and the tanker ship will arrive in half a day.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday the final lifting of the detention order for the tanker ship. However, Iran made it clear that the investigation into the alleged marine violations is still ongoing.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards seized the UK tanker ship in the Strait of Hormuz, Persian Gulf. The seizure was seen as a retaliation measure by Tehran against the UK after the detention of an Iranian tanker ship.

Two weeks before the Stena Impero’s capture, a ship from Iran was seized by the British Royal Marines off of Gibraltar. UK authorities have lifted the detention order of the Iranian ship just last month.

Iran’s seizure of the ship caused stirred the tension in the Persian Gulf region. The Stena Bulk said on Wednesday that it was not in negotiation with Tehran and has cleared it was not aware of any charges against the company.

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Effects on Crude

The release of the British tanker ship made headlines across the international press. However, commodity traders did not focus much on the news.

The oil market is still eyeing on the developments of the Saudi Aramco and trade war news. Today, West Texas Intermediate or WTI crude oil prices have gained in sessions.

WTI crude went up by 0.12% or 0.07 points, and each barrel of WTI crude currently costs around $56.48. The prices have swung from $55.98 to $56.62 in trading sessions.

Meanwhile, benchmark Brent oil futures for November 19 have contracted by 0.32% or 0.20 points. Brent oil barrels currently trades for $62.54 and has fluctuated from $62.11 to $62.72.

Aramco Focus

Despite news from the release of the British tanker ship, the biggest factor of oil prices is still Saudi Aramco’s recovery.

The global crude production lost 5% after the September 14 attack on Saudi Aramco’s facilities.  The state-owned Saudi Aramco has now approached the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Singapore’s GIC, and other international funding organizations.

A meeting between officials from Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi’s ADIA will take place in October.

Reports said that the massive oil production company is outsourcing and seeking to achieve a $2 trillion valuation. Sources say Saudi Arabia had initial conversations in the past months about this between other Middle Eastern and Asian countries.

However, the discussions between Saudi Aramco and the companies are still at an early stage and some funds yet to study the proposals.

ADIA and the other companies have denied commenting or confirming the news.