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Vessels trickle through Strait of Hormuz as Middle East conflict persists
Reuters • • general
Key Points:
- The number of commodity vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz dropped significantly to 12 over the weekend, down from 35 the previous weekend, amid ongoing tensions between the US and Iran.
- Visible ship traffic through the strait has decreased sharply, although Middle Eastern oil producers continue to export oil using tankers with transponders turned off.
- Saudi Aramco increased crude exports via the Strait of Hormuz following Houthi attacks on its East-West pipeline, boosting September exports to over 4 million barrels per day from 2.4 million bpd in August.
- Despite pipeline disruptions, Middle East oil flows remain strong, averaging 17.1 million bpd recently, with Saudi Arabia notably increasing its oil shipments through the strait to 2.9 million bpd from 700,000 bpd in August.
- Iraq accounted for 35% of the crude volume exiting the strait, while Saudi Arabia made up about half, according to provisional data from analytics firm Kpler.
