Vietnam Urges US Navy to Let Oil Tanker Through Its Blockade

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(Bloomberg) — Vietnam’s state oil company urged the US to let a supertanker pass through an American naval blockade outside of the Persian Gulf, saying the shipment is critical to the Asian country’s economy.

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The very large crude carrier Agios Fanourios I, managed by Athens-based Eastern Mediterranean Maritime, performed a mid-ocean U-turn on Monday at around the point where the US blockade begins. It had only just cleared the Strait of Hormuz, holding 1.99 million barrels of Iraq’s Basrah Medium crude, when it turned back, according to ship tracking and paperwork seen by Bloomberg.

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PetroVietnam Oil Corp., the trading arm of the state energy company, confirmed to US Naval Forces Central Command that it owns the cargo on the Agios Fanourios I and that it was loaded in Iraq, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg. The vessel is still signaling its destination as Nghi Son, home to a refinery in the Asian country.

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“This cargo is of extreme importance to Nghi Son Refinery, to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and to the Vietnamese people,” the letter seen by Bloomberg says. “Any further delay risks halting refinery throughput, with cascading consequences for millions of Vietnamese consumers, businesses, public services and industries.”

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The struggle to get barrels out demonstrates how the US blockade has further complicated what was already an almost-impossible task for tanker owners trying to export oil from the region during the war. Saudi Aramco’s CEO said this week that 100 million barrels a week of supply are being lost. 

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The Vietnamese refinery, NSRP for short, is one of only two operational ones in the Asian country and accounts for a “substantial” share of Vietnam’s gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, liquefied petroleum gas and feedstocks for petrochemicals, the letter says. It has a processing capacity of 200,000 barrels a day, meaning the tanker could in theory supply it with about 10 days of crude, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

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Iran blocked almost all commercial shipping as soon as the war began on Feb. 28, while the American restrictions started on April 13. 

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It’s not clear why the Agios Fanourios I hasn’t continued its voyage, given that the American blockade is on Iranian shipping — rather than barrels from Iraq.

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For its part, Iran is preventing vessels from hostile nations from exiting Hormuz while trying to force those that do go through to follow a route close to its coastline. 

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Tanker tracking and documents seen by Bloomberg also show the vessel as having loaded in Iraq. A person familiar with the country’s exports also said the tanker loaded in Iraq.

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PetroVietnam Oil, Eastern Mediterranean, Central Command in Florida and Navcent in Bahrain didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

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—With assistance from Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen, Alex Longley, Anthony Di Paola, Serene Cheong and Khalid Al-Ansary.

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