Hormuz Shipping Slumps Amid Escalating Tensions
The Strait of Hormuz shipping traffic has slowed down significantly due to ongoing tensions in the region. According to ship-trackers, only four tankers crossed the strait on Tuesday, which is below the ten-day average of 13 tankers.
Kpler reported the lower-than-expected numbers, while Windward noted that four tankers entered the strait, two of them in 'dark mode', and three exited, one also in 'dark mode'. This comes after US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said a total of 17 million barrels of crude had passed through the Strait on Monday.
Analysts at ING commodity have suggested that despite the lower numbers, Persian Gulf oil flows may be above pre-war levels when considering bypass volumes. However, they caution that these numbers are uncertain and recommend looking at average flows over longer periods due to daily fluctuations.