- Saudi Arabia is exporting 6 million barrels per day of crude in September, the highest level since the Iran war began about seven months ago and equal to the kingdom's 2025 monthly average, according to Kpler.
- September shipments jumped nearly 80% from 3.4 million bpd in August even after Saudi Arabia closed the critical East-West pipeline this month due to damage from a drone attack launched from Iraq.
- The Saudis redirected exports back through the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S. military carved out a shipping lane along Oman's coast. Hormuz oil exports reached a seven-day average of 13.2 million bpd, compared with about 17 million bpd before the Iran war disrupted traffic.
- Brent crude jumped to nearly $110 per barrel after the pipeline shut, then pulled back as investor confidence grew that the outage was less disruptive than originally feared. Industry sources told Reuters the East-West pipeline restarted at low volumes earlier this week and is now ramping up.
Quotes
“The ramp-up from the Mideast Gulf is a consequence of the pipeline outage, but it likely also signals a greater confidence in using the Strait of Hormuz given rising traffic”
“usually for days, not weeks or months ... on every occasion.”