Iran's floating oil stockpile has fallen to zero

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorIran's floating oil stockpile has fallen to zero, and it comes as the U. S. naval blockade tightens.

2. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorZero is a big number to fall to. What was it before?

3. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorKpler data says floating stockpiles in Asian waters were roughly ninety million barrels, and by mid-October they were gone.

4. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorFloating where, exactly? I'm picturing a very large swimming pool.

5. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorTankers. A shadow fleet of them, parked at sea, holding oil until a buyer takes it.

6. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorNational Security Journal says twenty empty ones now sit off Sri Lanka.

7. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorTwenty empty tankers.

8. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorKpler's head of crude oil analysis, Homayoun Falakshahi, put it plainly: "There's no more oil to discharge to China anymore."

9. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorOkay, so how did we get here? Last I checked, Iran was selling this stuff.

10. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorIt was, and I assume largely out of that floating reserve.

11. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorNow the blockade is tightening, and Kpler projects crude revenue could dry up by the middle of December as outstanding payments are settled.

12. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorSo it's a countdown. Who feels it first?

13. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorFox News says the biggest pain may fall on ordinary Iranians, while the Revolutionary Guard, the IRGC, may be shielded.

14. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorThat's the part I don't get. Sanctions are meant to pressure the people deciding, right?

15. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThat's the argument for the blockade: pressure on the government.

16. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThe argument against is that pressure tends to travel downhill, and officials rarely stand at the bottom.

17. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorDownhill. Right.

18. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorA researcher at United Against Nuclear Iran, Charlie Brown, said, "They must certainly be feeling significant pressure right now."

19. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorSupporters read that as the policy working.

20. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorAnd critics read it as a bill that goes to the wrong address.

21. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorBoth readings are on the table, and BBN takes neither side. What the data shows is empty tankers.

22. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorSo what do we watch for next?

23. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorWhether that mid-December projection holds, and whether the blockade eases or tightens further. It's not clear yet how Tehran responds.

24. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorOne sentence for someone who just woke up?

25. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorIran's floating oil is gone, the money is running down, and the pain may land on citizens before the people in charge.

26. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorTwenty tankers off Sri Lanka, completely empty, and they're the only ones in this story with nothing to lose.

27. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorCorrect, Mr. Darnell. For once.