Saudi Arabia Has Nearly Restored Its Pre-War Oil Export Volumes – Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia has virtually returned to its pre-war crude oil export levels following the restoration of safe passage for tankers through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Over the past six days, the country has been shipping about 6.3 million barrels of oil per day, which is in line with the 2025 average.
This increase has been one of the most compelling signs of the normalization of supplies from the Persian Gulf following the conclusion of a temporary peace agreement between the U.S. and Iran. Currently, supertankers operated by the Saudi company Bahri are being spotted in the Gulf of Oman after loading at the largest terminal in Ras Tanura, while additional volumes are being shipped through the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea. Current export levels significantly exceed those of June, when the country was shipping about 4.5 million barrels per day.
At the same time, other countries in the region are resuming shipments—the United Arab Emirates has already restored its exports to pre-crisis levels, exceeding 3.9 million barrels per day. The total volume of oil transported through the Strait of Hormuz has now exceeded 10 million barrels per day. Against the backdrop of increased supply, oil futures have lost all the gains made during the escalation of the Middle East conflict. In addition, the state-owned company Saudi Aramco took an unusual step and sold at least 6 million barrels of crude oil to Asian buyers on a spot basis, rather than through its usual long-term contracts, in order to quickly return the additional volumes to the global market.
Source: Bloomberg.
More than 20 million barrels of Iranian oil are currently stranded on tankers in Asian waters due to the difficult situation in finding buyers.
Indian oil refineries have found themselves in an extremely advantageous position by agreeing to supply motor fuel to the aggressor country to help it overcome its domestic fuel crisis. At the same time, Russia is forced to significantly lower the prices of its crude oil for New Delhi.
