Crude oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz hit prewar levels, but fuel shipments remain constrained

Crude oil exports from the Strait of Hormuz have basically returned to levels normal before the Iran war, as U.S. military escorts have boosted shipments and pipelines have redirected flows. Crude transiting Hormuz reached a seven-day average of 13.5 million barrels per day as of Monday, which matches a prewar baseline for shipments through the strait, according to data published Wednesday by Kpler, a firm that tracks tankers and global trade flows. Iran has claimed throughout the war that it controls Hormuz and has declared the closure of the strait multiple times. But Tehran is losing its influence as strong volumes pass through Hormuz, said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at Kpler. Crude oil shipments from the Middle East region, including the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, are sometimes higher than prewar levels. The region reached a seven-day average of 19.5 million bpd as of Monday, surpassing a prewar baseline of about 17 million bpd, the Kpler data showed. But the recovery is uneven, said Natasha Kaneva, head of global commodities strategy at JPMorgan. The "crude market has largely normalized even as refined product supplies remain constrained," Kaneva said.The world ...