Oil prices tumble as secret ship-to-ship US transfers keep Gulf oil moving

Oil prices sank on Tuesday while a U.S. military network kept Gulf exports running around the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude lost 1.25% and traded at $82.13. July West Texas Intermediate dropped 1.41% to $79.67, taking the U.S. benchmark below $80. Prices rose overnight before falling. Monday’s losses had already taken the market to its lowest since March 4.

Traders are waiting for the full terms of the U.S.-Iran peace plan. Washington and Tehran reached a deal Sunday that would keep their ceasefire in place for 60 days and allow vessels through the strait. G7 leaders meeting in Évian-les-Bains, France, will discuss the war, while more details from the memorandum are expected later this week.

Washington runs a covert tanker system while diplomats prepare the formal deal

According to Trump at the G7 conference, the agreement was now signed. Further, Trump stated that the Strait of Hormuz would “completely reopen” by Friday and that the Iranians’ payments for passage would be stopped. A signing ceremony will take place on Friday in Geneva.

Well before this news, the United States had developed an alternative way of transporting the oil by its military. It involves the use of smaller ships to carry the goods via the area, then pumping it out into large ships once outside. Drones, unmanned watercrafts, and helicopters follow the convoy.

The transfers began in early May near two coastal points. One sits off Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. The other is near Sohar in Oman. Eleven sources identified those locations. Shipping records and satellite pictures showed at least 92 vessels taking part.

The transfer network had already been running for several weeks before Washington and Tehran announced their provisional truce. Investigators could not establish whether the agreement changed the missions, their routes, or their pace. No public link has been confirmed between the tanker operation and the planned Geneva ceremony so far.

Activity continued on June 11. Images from space showed 17 ship pairs transferring cargo at the same time across both areas. Two days earlier, Iran shot down an Apache helicopter tied to the mission.

That attack led to U.S. bombing raids. Four sources linked the aircraft to the tanker work, including a former American official briefed on the strike. Satellite pictures from June 9 also showed six tanker pairs packed into waters off Sohar.

The arrangement borrows a method Iran has used to bypass sanctions. Tankers carry oil in stages instead of sending one ship through the full trip. That makes the process slower and more dangerous, but it keeps exports leaving the Gulf while normal passage remains restricted.

Military crews track darkened tankers before crews pump cargo into VLCCs

Eight sources said the American military controls the entire operation. One was a private security contractor who had worked inside the transfer program.

Each ship begins by heading for an assembly point before entering the strait. The ships are then allowed to sail in intervals of about 3,000-4,000 meters. Their transponders are switched off. Deck lights are kept low. A chain of checkpoints lets American forces follow every vessel during the crossing. One participant said the military is “obviously watching you all the time.”

After passing the Strait, the smaller ships travel just outside the sea area claimed by Iran. They then pull beside waiting Very Large Crude Carriers, known as VLCCs. Crews need between 24 and 40 hours to pump the oil across. The emptied tankers head back through the same corridor. The filled VLCCs continue toward buyers abroad.

The system works because a small group of shipping operators still accepts the risk of crossing the Iranian blockade. Their vessels bring the cargo to larger carriers positioned beyond the main choke point.

Iran also runs a separate traffic network on the other side of the strait. A May 20 investigation found that Tehran uses island inspection points, state-level negotiations and, in some cases, transit charges to guide ships through its side.