Iran’s oil minister visits oil export terminal as Israeli strike feared

Iran’s oil minister landed on Kharg Island, home to the country’s main export terminal, and held talks with a naval commander on Sunday, the oil ministry’s news website Shana reported, amid concern Israel could attack energy facilities.

An Israeli military spokesman said on Saturday that Israel would retaliate in response to last week’s missile attack by Tehran “when the time is right”.

U.S. news website Axios cited Israeli officials as saying Iran’s oil facilities could be hit, while U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday that he did not think Israel had yet concluded how to respond.

Iran is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries with production of around 3.2 million barrels per day , or 3% of global output. Iranian oil exports have climbed this year to near multi-year highs of 1.7 million bpd despite U.S. sanctions.

Most of its oil and gas wealth is located in the south of the country, where the Kharg Island terminal is situated and from which around 90% of Iranian oil exports are shipped.

Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad arrived on Sunday “to visit the oil facilities and meet operational staff located on Kharg Island,” Shana reported, adding that the oil terminal there has the capacity to store 23 million barrels of crude.

State media reported Paknejad met with Mohammad Hossein Bargahi, a Revolutionary Guards Navy commander, to check the security of Iran’s South Pars gas platforms and assess the effective actions of the Guards’ 4th Naval Region.

“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy plays an important role in the security of oil and gas facilities,” Paknejad was quoted as saying.

China, which does not recognise U.S. sanctions, is Tehran’s biggest oil customer and according to analysts imported 1.2 to 1.4 million barrels per day from Iran in the first half of 2024.