By Aaron McNicholas and Catherine Cartier<\/p>\n
LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) – A suspected oil spill covering dozens of square kilometres of sea near \u200cIran’s main oil hub of Kharg Island has been seen \u200con satellite imagery this week.<\/p>\n
The likely spill – appearing on images as a grey and white \u200bslick – covered waters to the west of the 8-kilometre (5-mile) long island, pictures from Copernicus\u2019s Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 satellites showed on May 6-8.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe slick appears visually consistent with oil,\u201d said Leon Moreland, researcher at the Conflict and Environment \u200cObservatory, who estimated that \u2060it was covering an area of approximately 45 square km.<\/p>\n
Louis Goddard, co-founder of consultancy Data Desk, which focuses on \u2060climate and commodities, agreed that the images likely showed an oil slick, which he said was potentially the largest to occur since the start of \u200bthe U.S.-Israel \u200bwar against Iran 70 days ago.<\/p>\n
The \u200bU.S. military and Iran’s mission \u200cto the United Nations in Geneva did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the images.<\/p>\n
The cause of the possible spill and the point of origin are currently unknown, Moreland added, noting that images from May 8 showed no evidence of additional active spills.<\/p>\n
Kharg Island, where U.S. forces \u200csaid they had destroyed military targets earlier \u200bin the war, is the hub for \u200b90% of Iran’s oil exports, \u200bmuch of which is bound for China.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Navy \u200chas been blockading Iran’s ports in \u200ban attempt to \u200bstop Tehran’s tankers from entering and exiting, while U.S. and Iranian forces have clashed in the Gulf.<\/p>\n
The war has also trapped hundreds \u200bof ships in the \u200cGulf and caused the world\u2019s biggest disruption to crude oil supply, \u200bas well as hitting global supplies of oil products and \u200bliquefied natural gas.<\/p>\n
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