Strait of Hormuz Traffic Grinds to Halt Amid Middle East Conflict
Commercial vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has dwindled to a trickle due to ongoing Middle East conflict, with only a dozen vessels transiting the strait on the weekend. This is down from 35 vessels just prior to that, according to shipping data.
The Strait of Hormuz is a critical conduit for global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, handling about 125 large commercial vessels per day before the conflict escalated in February.
Middle Eastern producers have continued to export oil on tankers traveling with their transponders off, while Saudi crude exports are rising despite attacks on the East-West pipeline. The state energy firm has increased exports through the Strait of Hormuz this month and next, enabling shipments from OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia to recover to over 4 million barrels per day (bpd) in September.
JPMorgan analysts noted that Middle East oil flows remain surprisingly strong despite the disruption to Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline, with total oil flows averaging 17.1 million bpd in the past 10 days, just 6.1 million bpd below the 2025 average.