LONDON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. military has stepped up chartering of tankers and requests for extra fuel in the U.S. Central Command area, which includes the Gulf, shipping and oil industry sources say.
A Gulf oil industry source said the charters suggested there would be high naval activity, possibly including a demonstration to Iran that the U.S. Navy will protect the Strait of Hormuz oil shipping route during tensions over Tehran's nuclear programme.
The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC) has tendered for four tankers in November to move at least one million barrels of jet and ship fuel between Gulf ports, from Asia to the Gulf and to the Diego Garcia base, tenders seen by Reuters show.
It usually tenders for one or two tankers a month to supply Gulf operations, which include missions in Iraq.
The MSC, asked for comment, confirmed the tenders and said there was nothing abnormal about current requirements in the Gulf, where it has a large military presence and which is home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.
A fifth hire request was recently cancelled, it said.
Fuels specified to be moved between Gulf ports include JP5, high flashpoint jet fuel, used to power F18 fighters aboard aircraft carriers.
"They have been very active," said a ship industry source, familiar with the MSC tender process, who asked not to be named.
"Out of the multiple charter requirements they issue, they usually do maybe one or two (tankers) a month in the Gulf. They were quiet over the summer months," he said.
MORE ACTIVITY
The U.S. regularly carries out naval exercises in the region, moving aircraft carrier strike groups in and out of the Gulf to counter what it says are provocative military manoeuvres by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and to reassure its Gulf allies.
Iran, which denies Western charges that its nuclear power programme aims to produce arms, has threatened to disrupt oil flows through the Strait if attacked.
According to U.S. figures, oil flowing through the Strait, at the entrance to the Gulf along Iran's coastline, accounts for roughly 40 percent of all globally traded oil supplies.
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Submitted: Nov 24, 2007
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