Strait of Hormuz Non-Iranian Oil Transit Surges 50% This Month Despite Blockade Threat

BlockBeats News, June 12th, despite the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran, crude oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have recently seen a significant uptick. Energy data company Vortexa data shows that in the first 10 days of June, the daily average volume of non-Iranian crude oil exported through the Strait of Hormuz reached at least 1.8 million barrels, a 50% increase from May's approximately 1.2 million barrels.

Meanwhile, due to the impact of U.S. sanctions, Iranian crude oil shipments have almost come to a standstill, with no Iranian oil passing through the waterway during the same period.

Xavier Tang, Senior Market Analyst at Vortexa, stated that the practice of "dark sailing" through the Strait of Hormuz, where vessels turn off their Automatic Identification System (AIS) signal, has become the new norm. Although the overall transport volume is still far below the pre-conflict level of around 20 million barrels per day, concerns in the market about the risk of strait closure have significantly diminished.

When Iran once again announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, Brent crude oil futures showed little reaction, a stark contrast to the initial conflict when Iran's first strait closure caused oil prices to surge by about 13%.

In addition, U.S. President Trump revealed that the U.S. military has been conducting a secret escort mission since last month, helping secure about 100 million barrels of oil to pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz, equivalent to over 2.4 million barrels per day.

The U.S. Central Command also stated that this week they had intercepted two vessels attempting to breach the blockade in the Gulf of Oman since mid-April, with one vessel experiencing an onboard fire on Thursday. The market is currently closely watching whether crude oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz can be maintained at the current level amidst Iran's latest threat to close the strait.

At the time of writing, WTI crude oil is trading at $87.38, up 0.25% intraday; Brent crude oil is trading at $88.58, up 0.05% intraday.