Tuesday, December 16, 2008

200-300 Ships Outside The Straits?

200-300 Ships Outside The Straits?
Exclusive to Rense.com 12-13-8

I was in Oman yesterday and stood on the beach looking out to the straits of Hormuz.
The must have been 200-300 tankers and smaller ships on the horizon, outside the straits on the Indian Ocean side.
I asked one of the locals if it is normal to have so many ships at anchor like that. He said no. He, too, was puzzled.
I also notice black water all along the coast. I was initially told it was oil in the water. Then I was told it was algae and not to ask so many questions.
Something is going on in the straits of Hormuz.
I can only guess the following as possible reasons for the number of ships I saw:
1. Some sort of unpublicized low key interdiction is going on.
2. The drop in oil demand is leaving many ships idle - but why anchor them in such a dangerous location?.
3. Low oil prices have ships rushing to the Gulf to load up...and they can no longer get them through the Straits into the shallow Persian Gulf fast enough.
4. OPEC is slowing down tanker fill-ups to restrict supply, so many ships are at anchor in the region.
In the UAE Emerite of Fujeriah, they're building oil terminals on both the Indian and Persian gulf sides of that Emirate. Word from the locals is they're expecting trouble in the Straits of Hormuz and the Emirate is taking strategic action to keep the oil flowing.

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