Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz rose to their highest level this month since the Iran war began, as Saudi Arabia was forced to send more crude through the contested waterway after Houthi attacks restricted its Red Sea route.
Saudi shipments through Hormuz jumped to 2.58 million barrels per day in September from around one million bpd in August, giving the kingdom 43 per cent of the strait’s oil traffic, preliminary Kpler data showed. The increase came as flows through the Bab Al Mandeb strait more than halved to 2.56 million bpd from 5.45 million bpd in August.
After US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 led to Tehran effectively shutting Hormuz, Riyadh turned to its five million bpd East-West pipeline to move oil across the kingdom to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
From there, tankers carried the crude south through Bab Al Mandeb towards Asian markets, with Saudi flows through the strait reaching 3.99 million bpd in June.
The increase was not enough to reverse the broader decline in regional oil traffic. Combined volumes from all exporters through Hormuz, Bab Al Mandeb and the Suez Canal fell to 9.99 million bpd in September from 12.17 million bpd in August, leaving flows 61 per cent below February levels and close to May’s wartime low of 9.95 million bpd. Saudi Arabia accounted for about 3.7 million bpd of the September total.
That route came under growing pressure from July 20, when Yemen's Houthis declared a naval blockade on Saudi shipments and threatened Saudi, Israeli and US-linked vessels. In August, six people were killed in a missile strike on the cargo ship Tihamah, with Saudi flows through Bab Al Mandeb strait falling to 0.45 million bpd.
A drone attack on the East-West pipeline on September 10 halted Yanbu crude loadings from September 11. Saudi Arabia has since restarted the pipeline and resumed loadings at Yanbu, although flows remain below pre-attack levels.
Excluding Saudi Arabia, flows through the strait fell 29 per cent to 3.44 million bpd in September, according to Kpler. Kuwait's shipments more than halved, the UAE's dropped 43 per cent and Iraq's fell 23 per cent. Iran shipped just 100,000 bpd under the US naval blockade, compared with 2.5 million bpd in February.
Diplomatic efforts have yet to provide a route back to normal traffic.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi offered to reopen Hormuz within seven days if Washington lifted its blockade and sanctions during the UN General Assembly. However, US President Donald Trump rejected the offer on September 26, saying Iran wanted to open the strait “because they're losing so badly”, while indicating that talks could continue.
Overall, total Hormuz flows remain less than a third of February's 20.64 million bpd, highlighting the continued disruption to the Gulf's main oil export artery.
The Kpler figures exclude tankers crossing with their transponders switched off.
