Hormuz Crude Volumes Suddenly Hit Highest Daily Peak Since July

Crude oil flows out of the Strait of Hormuz reached 33.7 million barrels so far in the week starting September 20, preliminary ship-tracking data from Kpler showed on Friday, putting exports roughly on track with the previous week’s levels.

The traffic comprised 19 tankers, of which 17 are very large crude carriers (VLCC) that can carry two million barrels of oil, the data showed. Most of the tankers are laden with crude from Saudi Arabia, followed by Iraq.

For the full previous week, 49.2 million barrels of crude were shipped out via Hormuz, according to Kpler.

On Wednesday, some 60 commercial vessels of all types transited the Strait of Hormuz carrying the highest daily volume of crude oil since early July, a US official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

State-run Saudi Aramco has boosted its exports via Hormuz after attacks on its East-West Pipeline earlier this month halted shipments from the Red Sea port of Yanbu.

On Thursday, the number of commodity vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz fell to nine from 14 the day before, Kpler data showed, although an unknown number of ships sail through the waterway with their transponders turned off and are not counted.

Of the nine, eight ships exited. The 10-day average of transits is 18, according to Kpler data.

Before the Iran war started on February 28, the strait typically handled about 125 large commercial vessels per day, including tankers, gas carriers, bulk carriers and container vessels, accounting for some 20 per cent of global oil and liquefied natural gas supply.