Saudi crude flows through Hormuz reach 2.58 million bpd in September

Saudi crude shipments through the Strait of Hormuz reached 2.58 million barrels per day in September, the highest level since the Iran conflict began in February, according to preliminary Kpler data published by The National on 29 September. The kingdom accounted for 43 percent of oil traffic through the strait during the month, up from around one million bpd in August.

Red Sea route traffic drops by more than half#

The increase came as flows through the Bab Al Mandeb strait fell to 2.56 million bpd in September from 5.45 million bpd in August, Kpler data showed. Saudi flows through Bab Al Mandeb had reached 3.99 million bpd in June after the kingdom turned to its five million bpd East-West pipeline to move crude to the Red Sea port of Yanbu following the effective closure of Hormuz. Yemen's Houthis declared a naval blockade on Saudi shipments on 20 July and threatened vessels linked to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United States. A missile strike on the cargo ship Tihamah on an unspecified date in August killed six people, with Saudi flows through Bab Al Mandeb falling to 0.45 million bpd that month. A drone attack on the East-West pipeline on 10 September halted crude loadings at Yanbu from 11 September, though the pipeline has since restarted and loadings have resumed at below pre-attack levels.

Combined regional oil traffic falls to 9.99 million bpd#

Combined volumes from all exporters through Hormuz, Bab Al Mandeb and the Suez Canal fell to 9.99 million bpd in September from 12.17 million bpd in August, leaving flows 61 percent below February levels and close to May's wartime low of 9.95 million bpd, according to Kpler. Saudi Arabia accounted for approximately 3.7 million bpd of the September total. Excluding Saudi shipments, flows through Hormuz fell 29 percent to 3.44 million bpd in September. Kuwait's shipments more than halved, the UAE's dropped 43 percent and Iraq's fell 23 percent. Iran shipped 100,000 bpd under a US naval blockade, compared with 2.5 million bpd in February. Total Hormuz flows remain less than a third of February's 20.64 million bpd. The Kpler figures exclude tankers crossing with their transponders switched off.

Iraq plans pipelines to bypass Hormuz reliance#

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi said in Berlin on 18 September that planned pipelines from Iraq's southern fields to Turkey and Syria will aim at European buyers and bypass the Strait of Hormuz, according to a statement reported by Enterprise AM. The two lines, running from Basra to Turkey and to the Syrian port of Baniyas, would carry a combined 2.2 million barrels per day, around 65 percent of what Iraq exported before the US-Iran conflict began. Iraq was sending approximately 3.4 million bpd through Hormuz before the strait was effectively closed. Al Zaidi's electricity minister signed a fourth-phase framework with Siemens Energy on 17 September covering combined-cycle and thermal plants, substations, maintenance work and financing mechanisms, the ministry said in a statement.