Chinese supertankers exit Hormuz as Trump, Vance talk up Iran deal

Two Chinese oil tankers have left the Strait of Hormuz after waiting in the Gulf for more than two months, as the United States president and vice president claim a deal to end the US-Israel war on Iran is imminent.

Shipping data from LSEG and Kpler showed that the two supertankers – Chinese-flagged Yuan Gui Yang and Hong Kong-flagged Ocean Lily – navigated out of the waterway, carrying about 4 million barrels of crude.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, meanwhile, told a parliamentary hearing in Seoul that a Korean crude vessel was also passing through the Strait on Wednesday.

Yuan Gui Yang loaded 2 million barrels of Iraqi Basrah crude on February 27, a day before the US-Israel war on Iran started, while Ocean Lily loaded 1 million barrels each of Qatari al-Shaheen and Iraqi Basrah crude between late February and early March, data showed.

Their exit from the strait came as Trump told US lawmakers the war on Iran will end “very quickly” and “hopefully … in a very nice manner”.

US Vice President JD Vance said at a White House news briefing that Tehran-Washington negotiations are “in a pretty good spot here”.

“There’s a lot of back-and-forth, a lot of good progress is being made, but we’re just going to keep on working at it,” Vance said.

Trump had earlier threatened military action against Iran again, giving the country “two to three days” to make a deal and claiming he had been an hour away from ordering an attack before postponing it.

The US president has repeatedly signalled that a deal was close and threatened heavy military action against Iran if it does not comply with US demands.

High oil prices

Oil prices briefly relaxed amid the positive comments from the White House, but experts warn prices are likely to remain elevated even if Washington and Tehran reach a deal.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell to as low as $110.16 a barrel.

“Prices are likely to still exhibit some upside potential even if a deal is concluded, given that supply will likely not return to pre-war levels immediately,” Emril Jamil, a senior oil research analyst at LSEG, told the Reuters news agency.

The economic and political fallout from the US blockade on the Strait of Hormuz has reverberated around the world, with Brent crude hitting its highest price since June 2022 last month.

The United Nations cut global growth forecasts to 2.5 percent this year, compared with an estimated 3 percent last year, citing higher energy costs and weaker trade.

The body warned in its latest World Economic Situation and Prospects Report that low-income families in developing countries bear the heaviest burden “as higher food and energy prices take up a larger share of their spending and rising costs outpace wages”.