Oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz are rebounding this month despite continued restrictions on shipping, with Saudi Arabia sharply increasing shipments through the strategic waterway after attacks disrupted its main pipeline route to the Red Sea, according to data from energy intelligence firm Kpler.
Crude exports from key Middle Eastern producers are on track to reach 12.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, their highest level since the US-Israeli war with Iran began in February, Kpler data showed. Exports through Hormuz are expected to reach about 7.4 million bpd, reflecting a significant recovery in flows through the strait.
The increase has been particularly pronounced for Saudi Arabia, which has been diverting crude to Gulf terminals after attacks on September 10 damaged pumping stations on its 1,200-km East-West pipeline linking the kingdom's oil-producing east to Yanbu on the Red Sea.
Saudi crude exports are expected to average about 5.4 million bpd in September, more than double August's 2.446 million bpd, according to Kpler. Shipments from the kingdom's Ras Tanura terminal on the Gulf have surged to about 3.6 million bpd, from just 929,000 bpd in August.
The shift means Saudi Arabia, which had relied heavily on the East-West pipeline as a route that bypasses Hormuz, is now sending substantially more crude through the strait.
Kpler said the pipeline attack had forced Saudi crude flows to be rerouted, while its earlier analysis estimated that the East-West system normally carried about 5.5 million bpd, including around 4.5 million bpd of crude exports through Yanbu. The pipeline has been undergoing repairs and a bypass is being developed.
The recovery in Hormuz flows, however, remains well below pre-war levels. Regional exports in September are still around 6 million bpd below the 18.8 million bpd recorded in February, Kpler data showed.
Kpler data also showed that 19 very large crude carriers carrying about 2 million barrels of Saudi crude each exited the Strait of Hormuz last week. The figures do not capture vessels that may have switched off their automatic identification systems while crossing the waterway.
The latest shipping data comes as diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict remain stalled.
Iran on Sunday said diplomacy remained the only way to resolve its conflict with the United States and Israel, after US President Donald Trump said he had rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the fighting.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran's conditions for reopening the waterway remained unchanged.
“Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met,” Araqchi said in a social media post. “Only a negotiated solution can get them out of this deadlock.”
Araqchi also said Iran had not yet received a definitive US response through the mediators involved in the talks and that Tehran would decide how to proceed once Washington's position was formally conveyed.
Trump said on Saturday that he had rejected the Iranian proposal, which Tehran had presented through Qatari mediators during the UN General Assembly in New York. The proposal envisaged reopening Hormuz as part of a broader process to halt hostilities.
Iran had earlier said it could reopen the strait within seven days if Washington eased military pressure and lifted its blockade on Iranian ports. Tehran has also sought the release of frozen Iranian funds and relief from oil sanctions as part of the proposed framework.
