On March 12, 2017, a panoramic view of the oil terminal port of Khag Island, Iran.
Fatmeh Bahrami | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Satellite images show some tankers withdrawing from the waters around Iran's key Khag Island oil loading terminal amid fears of an Israeli counterattack against Tehran's energy infrastructure.
Tracking company TankerTrackers.com wrote in a post on the Kharg Island.
Markets have been nervous about the possibility of Israeli retaliation after Iran launched a missile attack on the Jewish state earlier this week.
On September 25, satellite images captured by the European Space Agency's Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission showed that there were many VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) supertankers in the waters around Iran's main oil export terminal, Kharg Island. VLCC tankers are designed to transport large quantities of crude oil.
On September 25, satellite images captured by the European Space Agency's Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission showed that there were many VLCC supertankers in the waters around Iran's main oil export terminal, Kharg Island.
This image contains modified Copernicus Sentinel 2024 data processed by Sentinel Hub
On October 3, two days after Iran fired some 180 missiles at Israel, killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, images from the same location showed an empty sea around Al-Kharg Island with no ships in sight.
On October 3, satellite images captured by the European Space Agency's Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission showed an empty sea area around Kharg Island, with no ships visible.
This image contains modified Copernicus Sentinel 2024 data processed by Sentinel Hub
CNBC could not independently verify the footage.
TankerTrackers.com added in a report: “Please note that crude oil loading continues, but all additional vacant capacity at the Kharg Island anchorage has been removed. This is the first time we have seen this since the 2018 sanctions situation.
Iranian tankers are known for frequently turning off their transponders and manipulating automatic identification systems (AIS) to conceal their movements and circumvent U.S. sanctions on the country's oil exports. TankerTrackers.com co-founder Samir Madani said this is a different development.
He told CNBC that his analysis of satellite images found that the Iranian tanker is currently “in the middle of the Persian Gulf, west of the island.”
Khag Island: Iran’s largest oil terminal
The Khag Island terminal is located 15 miles off Iran's northwest coast and handles more than 90% of the country's crude oil exports. According to Vesseltracker.com, its loading capacity has been increased to 7 million barrels per day, although Iran's current export levels do not reach this level.
Several energy analysts predict that if Israel attacks the terminal, oil prices could surge as much as 5% in the short term. If Iran, one of OPEC's largest crude producers, were to attack its energy infrastructure, about 4% of the world's oil supply would be at risk.
“There are a lot of facilities on both the Iranian side and the Israeli side that could be targeted for critical infrastructure,” Sara Vakhshouri, founder and president of SVB Energy, told CNBC's Capital Connection on Wednesday.
“These infrastructures are all interconnected,” she said, stressing that Iran’s sheer size means “it’s impossible to somehow secure all of it.”
Crude oil futures are expected to be up about 8% so far this week as the market awaits the Israeli government's commitment to a “harsh response” to Iran's offensive.
Oil prices rose 5% on Thursday after comments from U.S. President Joe Biden and were on track for their best week in more than a year. Asked whether the White House would support an Israeli retaliatory strike against Iranian oil facilities, Biden told reporters on Thursday, “We're talking about it. I think it's going to be a little… whatever,” before cutting off mid-sentence. .
