BP Oil Tanker Shelters in Persian Gulf on Fear of Iran Retaliation
- British Heritage was scheduled to sail from Iraq to Europe
- Former Revolutionary Guard leader threatened British ships
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An oil tanker run by BP Plc is being kept inside the Persian Gulf in fear it could be seized by Iran in a tit-for-tat response to the arrest by Gibraltar last week of a vessel hauling the Islamic Republic’s crude.
The British Heritage, able to haul about 1 million barrels of oil, was sailing toward Iraq’s Basrah terminal in the south of country when it made an abrupt u-turn on July 6. It’s now off Saudi Arabia’s coast and a person with knowledge of the matter says BP’s concern is that it could become a target if Iran seeks to retaliate for the seizure near Gibraltar -- by British Royal Marines -- of the tanker Grace 1 on July 4.