Tehran tests de facto tanker tolls at Hormuz, adding a fresh risk premium to energy markets
Iran is trying to turn the Strait of Hormuz into a revenue stream — and it is doing it while global energy flows sit in limbo.
According to BNN Bloomberg, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen by about 90 percent since the start of the Iran war, with only about 150 vessels transiting since March 1 — roughly one normal day’s traffic before the conflict.
The New York Times reports that ship traffic remains at “historically low levels” and estimates that nearly 3,000 vessels are now waiting near the chokepoint, where about one‑fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas normally pass.
BNN Bloomberg says the squeeze has sent global oil prices “skyrocketing” and caused “alarming shortages” in Asian countries that rely on Persian Gulf supplies.
At the same time, Iran appears to be protecting its own flows.
Iran’s Kharg Island terminal loaded 1.6m barrels in March, “largely unchanged” from prewar monthly volumes, with most customers being small, private refineries in China that “don’t care about US sanctions.”
Shipping data and Iranian communications suggest a deliberate restructuring of control.
BNN Bloomberg reports that ships increasingly avoid the usual two‑lane channel in the middle of the strait and instead take a northern route around Larak Island, entering Iranian territorial waters and sailing closer to its coastline.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence, cited by BNN Bloomberg, says the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has imposed a de facto “toll booth” system: entities that want safe passage must submit cargo, ownership, destination and full crew details through “approved intermediaries” linked to the Guard.
Approved vessels receive a code and an IRGC escort, with oil shipments prioritized and subjected to “geopolitical vetting.”
Lloyd’s List Intelligence told BNN Bloomberg that “Iran’s IRGC has imposed a de facto ‘toll booth’ regime in the Strait of Hormuz” and said at least two vessels have paid tolls in yuan.
CNN, also citing Lloyd’s List, reports that more than 20 ships have used a new corridor near Iran’s coast, with at least two believed to have paid for passage, including one charge of about US$2m.
NBC News states that shipping experts now call the emerging system “the Tehran toll booth” and says that, based on Lloyd’s List data, average daily traffic has dropped from about 110 ships before the February 28 bombing campaign by the United States and Israel to fewer than 10.
The security backdrop adds a risk premium.
BNN Bloomberg, quoting the UN’s International Maritime Organization, reports that at least 18 ships have been hit and at least seven crew members have been killed since the war began.
NBC News, citing the same IMO data, says Iran is believed to be responsible for attacking at least 18 ships in and around the Persian Gulf, including a March 6 incident near the strait that killed four sailors on a tugboat.
BNN Bloomberg adds that about half of vessels turn off their radio identification before entering the strait and reappear only in the Gulf of Oman.
Tehran is now moving to formalize this leverage.
The New York Times reports that Iran’s Parliament is debating legislation that would require ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz to pay tolls under a framework asserting Iran’s “sovereignty, control and oversight” over the passage.
The paper says some fees have already been charged on an ad hoc, selectively applied basis since the February 28 US–Israeli attack, and notes that foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei has said Iran will collect fees for “safe passage,” according to Mehr.
CNN reports that Iranian lawmakers are considering a bill that would force countries using the strait for fuel and goods to pay tolls, while an adviser to the supreme leader has spoken of a “new regime for the Strait of Hormuz” after the war.
An Iranian official has added a new demand to end the conflict: recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the strait.
NBC News likewise reports that Iran has issued five conditions to end the war, including “recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.”
The potential revenue is material.
CNN estimates that roughly 20m barrels of crude and products typically move through Hormuz daily, around 10 very large crude carriers.
Using the reported fee of US$2m per tanker, CNN calculates about US$20m a day, or roughly US$600m a month, from oil alone — rising above US$800m a month if liquefied natural gas shipments are included, equal to about 15 percent–20 percent of Iran’s monthly oil export revenue in 2024.
CNN notes that this could rival Egypt’s Suez Canal income and quotes Bloomberg Economics’ Dina Esfandiary as saying Tehran views tolls as an “easy” and “low‑cost” way to “make up for some of its economic shortfalls” under sanctions.
