UAE Oil Output Hit a Record 4.1 Million Barrels a Day in June; ADNOC Has Sold Over 90 Million Barrels by Routing Around Hormuz (Wednesday, August 12, 2026)

The United Arab Emirates hit a record 4.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil production in June 2026, at the very moment Iran is conditioning any full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz on six demands, and Bank of America says only 5 to 10 ships a day are transiting the Strait. According to Oilprice.com, citing estimates from the International Energy Agency (IEA), Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has sold more than 90 million barrels of crude since early June through eight spot tenders that route cargoes around the Strait of Hormuz.

Background

The UAE left OPEC on May 1, 2026, right as the regional conflict was severely restricting ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Citing shipping data from Kpler reported by Reuters on Tuesday, August 11 (20 Mordad 1405), Oilprice.com said only six commodity vessels transited the Strait on Monday, August 10 (19 Mordad), down from a 10-day average of 11 ships. Francisco Blanch, Bank of America's head of commodities and derivatives research, told CNBC the same Monday that only 5 to 10 ships a day are now passing through Hormuz, compared with roughly 140 ships a day before the war, and that traffic needs to recover to 80 to 100 ships a day to stabilize energy markets. Saudi Arabia, by contrast, had already restored its own Hormuz exports to about 6.3 million bpd, near pre-crisis levels, according to Bloomberg and CNBC data Sahmino reported on Saturday, July 4 (13 Tir 1405).

The numbers

• UAE crude output rose from 3.3 million bpd in May to a record 4.1 million bpd in June, per IEA estimates that Oilprice.com described as the UAE's highest output ever, in reports on Thursday, August 6 and Tuesday, August 11.
• ADNOC has held eight spot tenders since early June and, per Reuters sourcing reported by Oilprice.com on Tuesday, August 11, has sold more than 90 million barrels of crude through them.
• Per Bloomberg vessel-tracking data cited by Oilprice.com on Thursday, August 6, the UAE shipped more crude out of the Strait of Hormuz over June and July than any other Gulf producer.
• Hormuz traffic fell to six vessels a day on Monday, August 10, the lowest in more than two months, per Kpler data via Reuters.
• Brent crude stood at $88.86 a barrel as of 9:57 p.m. Tehran time on Wednesday, August 12, after jumping nearly 5 percent on August 10 (19 Mordad) to above $87.

Drivers

Leaving OPEC on May 1 freed the UAE from the group's production quota; by contrast, the seven core OPEC+ producers that stayed in the coalition raised their combined August output by just 188,000 bpd, per Sahmino's earlier reporting. But the record output alone does not explain the exports; the core of the story is the workaround ADNOC built around the Hormuz chokepoint: loading crude onto smaller vessels inside the Persian Gulf, at Fujairah, Zirku Island and Das Island, then transferring cargoes to larger ships outside the Strait, in the Fujairah-to-Sohar (Oman) range or even in Malaysia; plus maximum use of an onshore pipeline that moves crude from the UAE's west coast to its east coast, bypassing Hormuz entirely. Oilprice.com also reports that some UAE tankers transit the Strait itself in "dark mode," with tracking transponders switched off.

Outlook

The UAE's playbook is not unique; Saudi Arabia restored near-precrisis export levels earlier. Two near-term developments could still reshape the picture: first, the initial 60-day US-Iran talks window under their memorandum ends around August 16 (25 Mordad 1405), a date Sahmino has logged on its market calendar, and its outcome could be the biggest single variable for how far Hormuz actually reopens. Second, Iran's foreign ministry has said, per Oilprice.com, that the Strait will stay closed until its conditions are met, meaning the geopolitical risk premium keeps getting priced into Brent even as some producers have effectively found a way around it. Energy analysts describe this as an asymmetric situation: the whole oil market pays for the risk, but only producers with alternative infrastructure, a pipeline or a port outside the Strait, actually get around it.

Takeaway

Put together, these numbers make one thing clear: the threat to close Hormuz is no longer an equal obstacle for every Gulf exporter. Helped by its OPEC exit and alternative infrastructure, the UAE hit a record production month in June and sold more than 90 million barrels bypassing Hormuz, at the very time total Strait traffic had collapsed to six vessels a day. For markets watching Iran, that means the Hormuz risk premium on Brent is still real, but it dilutes further every time another producer builds a way around the chokepoint.

What to watch

The end of the initial 60-day US-Iran talks window around August 16, ADNOC's next spot tender for December cargoes, and the IEA's July monthly report, which will show whether the UAE's record output repeats.

Related: Brent crude · Iran's six Hormuz conditions · Saudi Hormuz exports recover · End of the US-Iran talks window