Reuters Report on Iran's 'Secret Methods' for Selling Fuel Oil

Reuters has reported on Iran's 'secret methods' for selling fuel oil while circumventing U.S. sanctions. Fuel oil constitutes a significant portion of Iran's oil and petroleum product revenues. According to the Ministry of Oil, Iran exported 18.7 billion liters of fuel oil last year, valued at over $8 billion. Following the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA and the imposition of oil sanctions in November, Iran faced challenges in loading, insuring tankers, selling, and receiving payments for fuel oil, similar to those for crude oil. Previous reports had indicated that Iran resorted to various means to export crude oil, but a report published by Reuters on February 17 indicates that Iran secretly sent at least two tankers with large fuel oil cargoes to Asia by 'bypassing' U.S. sanctions. The report states that documents for the tankers indicate the source of the fuel oil cargoes was Iraq, but assessments from industrial and official sources in Iraq, as well as a UAE tanker service company, suggest that the actual source of the fuel oil was Iran. These sources claimed they were unaware of who was behind the document forgery. Official documents for the oil cargo indicate that the 300,000-ton tanker 'Grace 1' loaded fuel oil at the port of Basra, Iraq, between December 10 and 12. However, Reuters states that this tanker was not present at Basra during those dates, and its presence at the port was not recorded. Tracking Iranian tankers has become 'more difficult' ahead of U.S. sanctions. Reuters posed questions to four major international tanker tracking companies, all of which confirmed that the 'Grace 1' tanker had turned off its signaling system from November 30 to December 14, thus remaining hidden from tracking radars during that period. However, this tanker was suddenly spotted at the port of Assaluyeh on November 14 while it was being loaded. The tanker then headed to the UAE and offloaded its cargo to two other tankers, one of which reached Singapore last month. The volume of the cargo that arrived in Singapore was 284,000 tons, valued at approximately $120 million. Iranian officials and Singapore customs have avoided responding to Reuters' inquiries. The 'Grace 1' tanker is owned by the Singaporean shipping company 'Management I Ships,' which sails under the Panamanian flag, meaning it is registered in Panama. Earlier reports had indicated that Iranian tankers were using the Panamanian flag to evade sanctions, and Reuters reported on March 14 that under U.S. pressure, Panama had removed at least 21 Iranian tankers registered under its flag from its ship registry. It has been said that Iran is now trying to replace the Panamanian flag with that of other countries like Vietnam. The Singaporean company has declined to provide explanations regarding the fuel oil cargo to Reuters. The report states that Iran has again resorted to methods used during previous sanctions (2012-2016) to counter U.S. oil sanctions, such as turning off tanker signaling systems and using flags from other countries. The 'Grace 1' tanker offloaded its cargo on January 16 and 22 to two smaller tankers at the port of Fujairah in the UAE. One of the tankers headed to 'Kriti Singapore' port. The other tanker, named 'Marshall Z,' also headed the same route but changed its course in mid-February and offloaded its cargo to a Libyan tanker in the same area on February 25, with this cargo also reaching Singapore. Three industrial sources from Iraq and the UAE's 'Yakat International,' which provides tanker services, have confirmed that the mentioned fuel oil source was not Iraq and that the documents were 'forged.' Peter Kiernan from the 'Economist Intelligence Unit' states that there are customers willing to trade with Iran despite U.S. sanctions, and the Islamic Republic is finding ways to sell some of its oil and petroleum products to them. Official documents show that the mentioned tanker approached Iranian ports for generator repairs before heading to the UAE, but Reuters states that this information appears to be a cover for disguising the loading of fuel oil from Iranian ports. Additionally, official documents for this tanker indicate that the Iraqi tanker company requested this ship to load over 284,000 tons of Iraqi fuel oil, but officials from the Iraqi tanker company told Reuters that these documents are 'forged' and that the information is completely incorrect. The documents also mention loading times from December 10 to 12, but the transport time from Basra is noted as January 12, which is unusual.