Iraq cancels tanker loadings after Hormuz closure turns back shipment: oil ministry

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s oil ministry undersecretary said Sunday that plans to export an additional four million barrels over the next few days have been canceled after a tanker loaded with two million barrels of Iraqi oil turned back following Iran’s renewed closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Basim Mohammed Khudhair, the federal Oil Ministry’s undersecretary, told Rudaw that two ships scheduled to arrive in Basra on April 21 and 22 to load four million barrels of oil were canceled after a vessel that had anchored at Basra port on Thursday evening to load two million barrels was forced to turn back after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) moved to close the chokepoint to commercial traffic.

Iran initially closed the waterway on March 8, roughly a week after the outbreak of a nearly 40-day conflict with the United States and Israel. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that the waterway - which typically carries around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas - is open in line with a halt to Israel’s attacks on Iran’s ally Hezbollah in Lebanon, a key Iranian demand tied to a broader ceasefire with Washington.

US President Donald Trump welcomed Iran’s announcement in a post on Truth Social, saying an American blockade on Iranian ports will remain until a deal is reached. In response, the IRGC reinstated what it described as “strict management” of the waterway, citing what it called repeated US breaches of commitments.

"If the situation in the Strait of Hormuz does not return to its pre-war state, and the safety of the ships and oil cargo cannot be guaranteed, oil exports through that route will not return to normal," Khudhair said.

Late last month, Iraq began exporting oil via a key border crossing with Syria following its reopening after an 11-year closure dating back to the start of the Syrian civil war.

"Approximately 4.5 million barrels of heavy fuel oil are exported monthly via tanker trucks to the Baniyas port in Syria, and these exports are continuing," Khudhair added.

Iraq loaded its first oil tanker for export via Syria’s Mediterranean port of Baniyas on Thursday, Ali Nizar, director general of Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO), announced.

Oil expert and former oil ministry spokesperson Assem Jihad told Rudaw on Sunday that under SOMO’s operating mechanism, the purchasing company is responsible for transportation and insurance, while Iraq’s role ends once the oil is loaded at southern ports, making the tanker and its cargo the responsibility of the buyer.


Malik Mohammed contributed to this report from Erbil, Kurdistan Region.