Sanctioned Oil Tankers Find a Lucrative New Trade in the Persian Gulf

Tankers previously used to ship crude oil from sanctioned countries are now moving crude out of the Middle East, after being removed from sanction lists. Two very large crude carriers that used to transport Venezuelan crude before are now being used to export oil from the Persian Gulf, and two more are en route to the Gulf of Oman, setting off from South America, Bloomberg reported today.

, said as quoted by Bloomberg. S. administration to bring those shadow tankers into the light, so to speak, and use them to carry unsanctioned oil. The move was motivated by sky-high freight rates for tankers due to the surge in demand from the Persian Gulf, where ship-to-ship transfers have become a regular practice.