How long can Iran keep Hormuz closed?

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JPM answers. 


Iran’s onshore storage capacity is roughly 86 million barrels and is currently about 54% full (around 47 mb), leaving approximately 40 mb of working capacity—equivalent to about 22 days of exports. In addition, roughly four Iran-linked VLCCs remain inside the Strait of Hormuz. If loaded, they could carry about 8 million barrels, extending the window to roughly 26 days.

In reality, upstream production adjustments would likely start sooner and build over time rather than occur all at once. A practical rule of thumb is that Iran would need to begin reducing production after roughly 16 days of a total export blackout, with curtailments then ramping up toward full export-volume shut-ins, or around 1.9 mbd, closer to day 30.

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About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific's leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.