Kpler: Persian Gulf crude loadings more than halved for the first time in six weeks despite higher Hormuz traffic

Data from analytics firm Kpler, published by Bloomberg and reported on Thursday, 30 July 2026, show that higher vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has yet to translate into a recovery in Persian Gulf oil exports. According to the data, fourteen commodity vessels transited the strait in both directions on Wednesday, 29 July, up from single digits the previous week.

Even so, Kpler wrote that a four day pause in US strikes on Iran has done little to restore Persian Gulf crude exports: confirmed clearance remained close to recent lows, while Gulf loading activity fell by more than half for the first time in six weeks. In the firm's assessment the crude backlog has shifted between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman rather than disappearing, with maritime security risks, war risk insurance costs and Iranian interdiction the main barriers. Offshore ship to ship transfers are helping manage inventories but are not expanding export capacity.

The same report noted that Qatar's Al Areesh left the Persian Gulf carrying the country's first LNG shipment in three weeks, and that the very large crude carrier Jamaica Prosperity was provisionally fixed at 465 Worldscale points, or nearly 500,000 dollars a day, to load a cargo on 3 August. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Bloomberg Radio that about 6.5 million barrels of oil a day exited via the strait over the past week under US military escort. At Bab el-Mandeb, 21 commodity vessels crossed on Wednesday, against 38 the day before.