Get you up to speed: Iran War Updates: Battle for control of Red Sea, attacks on energy infrastructure temper news of rising oil flow
Middle East oil exports, excluding those from Iran, exceeded pre-war levels last week, with data from Kpler showing a weekly average of shipments above 18 million barrels per day. Approximately 40 percent of oil now bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, utilising alternative routes, while Iran continues to assert control over the strait.
Middle East oil exports, excluding those from Iran, reached 16.5 million barrels per day in September, marking a return to pre-conflict levels. Although alternative routes are operating at full capacity, experts indicate that the situation remains unstable as Iran continues to face significant restrictions on its own exports.
Middle East oil exports, excluding those from Iran, have returned to pre-war levels, with weekly averages exceeding 18 million barrels per day, according to maritime tracking firm Kpler. Experts warn that while alternative shipping routes are being used, the geopolitical situation remains unstable, and Iran continues to face significant restrictions on its exports due to a U.S. counterblockade.
What remains unclear — The extent of Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz and the potential implications of its threats against unauthorized ships.
Iran conflict updates: Red Sea battleground as oil flows increase despite attacks
Middle East oil exports, excluding those from Iran, surpassed their pre-war levels last week, despite attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, according to data from the maritime tracking firm Kpler.
For the first time since the U.S. and Israel launched their offensive against Iran at the end of February, the weekly average of shipments rose for several days above the pre-conflict average of 18 million barrels per day.
Crude oil exports reached pre-war levels in September, with at least 16.5 million barrels leaving the region excluding Iran, Kpler said.
“Forty percent now bypass Hormuz, and most crude crossing the strait changes tankers offshore,” Kpler said, adding that most of the oil flowed through Saudi and United Arab Emirates pipelines.
Those figures include flows via the Red Sea, a route increasingly used to bypass the blockade Iran is attempting to impose on the strait, through which around a fifth of the world’s petroleum supplies crossed before the conflict.
Iran still claims control over the strait, and ships without its authorization risk coming under attack, but more and more are making it out, and alternative routes meant to bypass the waterway are operating at full capacity.
Despite the rebound, experts stressed that the situation is far from normal, and Iran is still being deprived of a large share of its own exports by a U.S. counterblockade of Iranian ports.