Qatar and Kuwait have restored roughly 70% of their pre-war crude oil export volumes through the Strait of Hormuz, traders told Bloomberg on Thursday, after implementing ship-to-ship transfer operations in the Gulf of Oman.
Before the Middle East conflict escalated, the two Gulf states collectively exported about 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude via the strategic chokepoint. Constrained by limited alternative routes—unlike Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—they initially struggled to maintain exports in the opening months of the conflict. Around June, however, Kuwait and Qatar began redirecting crude shipments through Hormuz for transfers onto larger vessels outside the strait, effectively bypassing the risk-prone chokepoint.
The incremental volumes from Kuwait and Qatar supplement shipments from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have continued moving oil through Hormuz and via alternative corridors since the conflict began. The UAE achieved pre-crisis export levels as early as June by leveraging ship-to-ship transfers within Hormuz, maximizing use of its onshore pipeline to move crude from west to east, and employing "dark" shipments—vessels operating with limited visibility—to transit the strait.
Saudi Arabia has similarly adopted ship-to-ship transfer strategies, offering Gulf crude for offshore transfers beyond Hormuz and routing additional volumes through the Red Sea and Egypt’s Mediterranean ports to avoid the Persian Gulf’s bottleneck.
These under-the-radar logistics and operational adjustments have driven total oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz to approximately 7-8 million bpd, up from roughly 4 million bpd in mid-July, according to trading sources cited by Bloomberg. The recovery in throughput has occurred despite ongoing geopolitical risks in the region, helping to stabilize global oil markets even as benchmark crude futures remain sensitive to supply disruptions.
The increased export activity reflects the Gulf states’ adaptability in maintaining critical energy flows amid heightened regional tensions.
