Naval blockade halts oil loadings at Kharg for the first prolonged stretch since the war began

According to Bloomberg, the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, reimposed this week, has halted crude oil loadings at the Kharg Island terminal for the first prolonged stretch since the war began. Kharg accounts for roughly 90 percent of Iran's crude exports, and the loading halt has put the terminal's storage capacity under pressure.

Tanker-tracking data show Iran's oil storage levels are rising, though some energy analysts say production shut-ins are not necessarily imminent. Control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil and gas supply passed before the war, has become the central point of contention between Iran and the United States and has weighed on global oil prices.