Islamabad, Sept 29. (dpa/GNA) – Oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are increasing and currently running at between 65% and 70% of pre-war levels, energy data provider Vortexa wrote in response to a dpa query on Tuesday.
The figure is for all oil products, including liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and refined products such as petrol.
Compared with the period before the war, around 80% of unprocessed crude oil and condensates are now passing through the strait, Vortexa said. It put the weekly average at 11.2 million barrels of crude per day, a figure previously also reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Analyst Amena Bakr of data provider Kpler, also reported a recovery in oil exports from the Gulf. Kpler’s data showed major Middle Eastern producers exporting 12.8 million barrels per day in September, down from 18.8 million in February, she wrote on X.
Iranian military action and threats have largely blocked passage through the strait, since the US and Israel began attacking Iran in late February.
Vortexa partly attributed a clear increase in energy shipments since the end of July to an expansion of a so-called “shuttle fleet.”
Analysts and US media have reported that tankers protected by the US Navy, are travelling back and forth through the strait, transporting oil from loading terminals in the Gulf to tankers waiting outside the strait.
An increase in oil shipments from Saudi Arabia is also contributing to the rise in exports, Vortexa said.
GNA