tate-owned energy company Pertamina said its last crude oil tanker had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz, just as renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran reignited concerns over shipping through the world’s most important oil chokepoint.
The Pertamina Pride, carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi Arabian crude loaded in early March, cleared the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday after departing the Arabian Gulf a day earlier, according to PT Pertamina International Shipping (PIS), Pertamina’s shipping subsidiary.
The vessel’s successful passage came as the US launched fresh strikes on Iran to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping, triggering Iranian retaliatory strikes on US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain and shattering efforts to end the conflict.
The latest round of attacks, which the US said was carried out in response to Tuesday’s assault on three cargo ships transiting the strait, came hours after US President Donald Trump declared that an interim agreement aimed at ending the conflict with Iran was “over” and revoked a waiver that had allowed Tehran to sell oil.
The latest escalation had pushed Brent crude toward US$79 a barrel on Thursday, while the rupiah weakened to as low as 18,094 per US dollar.
Read also: One Pertamina vessel safely transits the Strait of Hormuz
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“Following the successful transit of Gamsunoro, Pertamina Pride has also exited the Arabian Gulf and crossed the Strait of Hormuz,” acting PIS corporate secretary Vega Pita said in a statement released on Thursday.