The American Petroleum Institute opposes tolls or transit fees for vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz, the top U.S. oil industry trade group’s chief executive Mike Sommers told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.
Reuters reported that Oman has presented Iran with a plan backed by Gulf states to manage the Strait of Hormuz, which includes Tehran collecting voluntary fees from vessels using the waterway, according to a Gulf source and a Western diplomat.
Here are some more details:
* “I think it’s unlikely that we would support any kind of new tolling authority, particularly one that’s backed up by the threat of more bombing in the Strait of Hormuz,” Sommers said.
* Iran has maintained a chokehold on the Strait since the United States and Israel began bombing the country in February, sending oil prices soaring.
* Increasing vessel movements through the strait will be key to returning oil markets to normalcy, but Iran must not be allowed to control the waterway, Sommers said.
* The U.S. and other top oil consumers have been drawing crude and fuel from inventories at a record pace.
* The U.S. Congress should consider investing in upgrading the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Sommers said, noting that SPR caverns were designed for fast drawdowns but are difficult to refill and maintain.
* Congress should also consider opening new SPR sites along the U.S. West Coast, an idea President Donald Trump’s administration considered prior to the start of the Iran war, Sommers said.
(Reporting by Shariq Khan, Nicole Jao, and Siddharth Cavale in New York and Timothy Gardner in Washington, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)