Iran can withstand a complete halt in oil exports of up to two months before being forced to curb production, Reuters reports citing analysts, after the US began blocking shipping in and out of the country’s ports.

The blockade could prevent roughly 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude from reaching its main buyer, China. Any Iranian production shutdowns would add to more than 12 million bpd of supply already disrupted by the regional war, tightening markets further and lifting oil prices.

With its exports blocked, Iran faces having to divert crude into onshore storage tanks. Once those tanks are filled, the OPEC member would be required to curb upstream output.

Consultancy FGE NextantECA estimates Iran has about 90 million barrels of available onshore crude storage capacity, out of a total capacity of roughly 122 million barrels.

“Iran can sustain current production of around 3.5 million bpd for roughly two months without exports, extendable to around three months with a modest 500,000 bpd production cut,” FGE NextantECA says in a note.

Iranian domestic refineries process about 2 million bpd of oil, they add.

The relevant Iranian authorities were not immediately available for comment.

Read more here.

Opinion

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