Kharg Island

Kharg Island Latest News

Trump is reportedly considering strikes on Iran’s strategic Kharg Island oil hub to pressure Tehran over its nuclear programme and the Strait of Hormuz, although the claims remain unconfirmed.

About Kharg Island

• It is a small coral island in Iran located in the northern Persian Gulf.
• It lies about 30 km from the Iranian mainland.
• Its area is 25 sq.km., its length is 8 km, and its width is 4.5 km.
• It is one of relatively few Persian Gulf islands with natural freshwater resources, making it suitable for settlement by small populations. 
• The island experiences hot and humid summers, and its highest point, Mount Didehban, stands at 87 meters above sea level.
• The discovery of an offshore oil field in the waters around Kharg in the early 1960s stimulated the development of the island as a site for major petroleum and petrochemical installations. 
• Connection by pipelines to the underwater oil fields, as well as to the oil fields in Khuzistan province, transformed Kharg into Iran’s largest oil-loading terminal by the early 1970s. 
• Although it is close to the coast, it is surrounded by deep waters, allowing large oil tankers to dock.
• During the Iran–Iraq war (1980–1988), Kharg repeatedly was bombed, and its oil facilities suffered extensive damage, but they were reconstructed in the early 1990s.
• It facilitates as much as 90 percent of the country’s oil exports and is vital for Iran’s economy.
• It boasts a massive storage capacity of 28 million barrels and loading infrastructure capable of handling VLCCs and ULCCs.
• It has the ability to load 10 supertankers simultaneously and about 7 million barrels of oil per day.
• Its strategic significance lies in its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global oil passage.

News: MC

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