Crude oil exports from major Middle Eastern producers rose to 12.8 million barrels per day in September, the highest level since the US-Israeli war with Iran began in February, according to Kpler data released on Monday, driven by increased exports from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Shipments through the Strait of Hormuz recover
The recovery in regional exports followed an improvement in oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, which were on track to reach about 7.4 million barrels per day during the month.
Despite the recovery in exports from the region, which includes Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Iran, volumes remain about 6 million barrels per day below the 18.8 million barrels per day recorded in February, according to Kpler data.
Saudi Arabia raises exports in September
Saudi Arabia, the region’s largest oil exporter, was on track to ship about 5.4 million barrels per day in September, up from 2.446 million barrels per day in August.
September shipments from the Ras Tanura port in the Gulf jumped to about 3.6 million barrels per day, compared with 929,000 barrels per day in August, but remained below the 6.411 million barrels per day recorded in February.
19 very large crude carriers cross the strait
Kpler data showed that a total of 19 very large crude carriers, each carrying two million barrels of Saudi oil, left the Strait of Hormuz last week. The figures do not include vessels that may have crossed the strait after switching off their automatic identification system transmitters to avoid detection.
Before the war with Iran began on February 28, the strait typically handled about 125 large commercial vessels a day, including oil and gas tankers, bulk carriers and container ships, representing about 20% of global daily supplies of crude oil and liquefied natural gas.
