Crude oil exports from key Middle East producers rebounded in September to 12.8 million barrels per day, the highest since the beginning of the Iran war in February 2026, stated data from trade intelligence platform Kpler.
While Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) led the export rebound, a recovery in energy flow via the strategically important Strait of Hormuz played a big role as well.
As per Kpler’s initial estimates, energy trade through the Strait was set to hit about 7.4 million bpd this month.
Saudi Arabia, however, has diverted oil exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu following Iran-backed militant attacks that damaged the Kingdom’s East-West pipeline.
While exports from the region – which includes Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, and Iran – have rebounded, they were still about six million bpd down from 18.8 million bpd in February, according to Kpler.
The region’s top exporter Saudi Arabia was on track to ship about 5.4 million bpd this month, rebounding from 2.446 million bpd in August.
“September shipments from the Ras Tanura port in the Gulf jumped to about 3.6 million bpd, from 929,000 bpd in August, but still lower than the 6.411 million bpd recorded in February,” Kpler noted.
“A total of 19 huge crude carriers, carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi oil each, exited the Strait of Hormuz last week,” the data stated further.
The figures, however, exclude any vessels that might have crossed the Strait with their Automatic Identification System transponders turned off to avoid detection.
Before the Iran war, the strait used to handle about 125 large commercial vessels per day, including tankers, gas carriers, bulkers and container vessels, accounting for some 20% of the world’s daily crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply.
Talking about LNG, the traffic of this commodity linked to Qatar through the Hormuz Strait has increased, with more vessels associated with QatarEnergy transiting through the maritime chokehold last week.
While Kpler didn’t see visible transits by Qatar-linked LNG vessels or vessels carrying cargoes from the Ras Laffan gas terminal through the Strait in August, amid fears of attack by Iran, it didn’t rule out the possibility of some tankers stealthily crossing the route by keeping their transponders off.
The latest LNG vessel to reappear outside the Strait is the GasLog Skagen, which was reported off Sri Lanka on September 27 with a cargo from Ras Laffan, according to LSEG and Kpler.
The vessel, managed by Greece’s GasLog LNG Services, had been inside the Gulf from the start of the Iran war, ferrying cargoes from Qatar to the UAE and Kuwait, until it was last seen there on September 20.
“Another LNG vessel carrying a Qatar-origin cargo, Al Shamal, was last seen inside the strait on September 19 and reappeared outside Hormuz around September 24-25. Managed by Seapeak Maritime, it is currently skirting southern India,” LSEG and Kpler remarked.
The two Qatari-linked vessels, Mesaimeer and Al Ghashamiya, also left the Gulf with cargoes from Ras Laffan. While LSEG and Kpler identified the Mesaimeer, with the latter reappearing off Oman on September 23, Al Ghashamiya delivered its cargo to Dahej, India, on September 24.
The Qatari-linked Al Samriya appeared outside the waterway on September 17, the same day that Seapeak Maritime-managed Al Daayen emerged with a cargo en route for Caofeidian, China.
Shandong Redwood, managed by Qingdao-based Shandong Marine Energy, transited through the Hormuz on September 19 and delivered a cargo to Pakistan on September 23.
At least one LNG vessel entered the Strait last week. Qatari-linked Al Mafyar, last seen outside the Hormuz on September 19, reappeared in ballast inside the Hormuz on September 22.