Supertankers exit Gulf via Strait of Hormuz as US-Iran talks begin

SINGAPORE- Three supertankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, shipping data showed, marking what appeared to be the first vessels to exit the Gulf since the U.S.-Iran ceasefire deal and as peace talks got under way in Pakistan.

Tehran's blockade of the strait, a chokepoint for about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, since the start of the Iran war at the end of February has disrupted global energy supplies and sent oil prices soaring.

The Liberia-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Serifos and China-flagged VLCCs Cospearl Lake and He Rong Hai, entered and exited the "Hormuz Passage trial anchorage" that bypasses Iran's Larak Island on Saturday, LSEG data showed.

Each vessel is capable of carrying 2 million barrels of oil.

Serifos, carrying crude loaded from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in early March, is expected to arrive at Malaysia's Malacca port on April 21, data from LSEG and analytics firm Kpler showed.

Cospearl Lake is laden with Iraqi oil and He Rong Hai is carrying Saudi crude, the same data showed.

Both VLCCs are chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of Chinese energy giant Sinopec 600028.SS, the data showed.

Sinopec did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside office hours.

-Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Jan Harvey and Alexander Smith/Reuters