Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries are recording their highest recovery in oil exports since February.
Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries are recording their highest recovery in oil exports since February.
2026-09-29
Shafaq News – Follow-up
Data from Kpler showed that crude oil exports from major Middle Eastern producing countries rebounded in September to 16.328 million barrels per day, the highest level since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran last February, as Saudi Arabia and the UAE increased their exports.
Preliminary data revealed that this recovery came in the wake of a rebound in exports through the Strait of Hormuz, which were expected to reach about 9.719 million barrels per day this month, as Saudi Arabia diverted its oil exports from the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea following attacks that damaged the kingdom’s East-West pipeline, according to Reuters.
According to Kpler data, despite the recovery in exports from the region, which includes Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Iran, they are still about 3.2 million barrels per day lower than the 19.513 million barrels per day level in February.
This includes shipments transiting the Strait of Hormuz, including ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman, shipments from the ports of Fujairah in the UAE and Oman outside the Strait of Hormuz, and exports via the Red Sea.
Kpler said in a note on Monday that it “estimates crude oil exports from the Middle East to be just under 80 percent below pre-conflict levels.”
The data showed that Saudi Arabia, the region’s largest exporter, is on track to ship around 5.4 million barrels per day this month, up from 2.446 million barrels per day in August.
According to the data, September shipments from Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura port in the Gulf jumped to about 3.25 million barrels per day, compared with 929,000 barrels per day in August, but are still below the 6.411 million barrels per day level recorded in February.
Kpler data showed that a total of 19 supertankers, each carrying two million barrels of Saudi oil, left the Strait of Hormuz last week.
These figures exclude any ships that may have crossed the strait with their Automatic Identification System (AIS) transceivers switched off to avoid detection.
Before the outbreak of war with Iran on February 28, the Strait of Hormuz typically received about 125 large commercial vessels daily, including oil and gas tankers, bulk cargo ships and container ships, representing about 20 percent of the world’s daily supply of crude oil and liquefied natural gas.
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