Iran Steps Up Gulf Tanker Attacks as 13.1 Million Barrels a Day Still Cross Hormuz
Updated
Updated · CNN · Sep 29
Iran Steps Up Gulf Tanker Attacks as 13.1 Million Barrels a Day Still Cross Hormuz
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Sep 29
Summary
13.1 million barrels a day moved through the Strait of Hormuz last week—about 80% of prewar traffic—even as Iran increased attacks on tankers crossing the Gulf.
US-backed naval escorts, dark transits and Saudi rerouting have kept Middle East crude flows near 98% of prewar levels, eroding Tehran’s leverage despite the blockade on its own exports.
2 billion barrels have been drained from global inventories during the war, JPMorgan said, leaving the market reliant on shrinking stockpiles, high insurance costs and military protection to sustain flows.
Oil has stayed above $90 a barrel all month and often topped $100 in September, while refined-product exports remain only 58% of prewar levels, keeping gasoline and diesel prices near records.
JPMorgan warned higher crossings do not mean safer passage, and analysts expect Iran’s tanker attacks to persist as the US-led effort strains to preserve an increasingly fragile status quo.
If alternative pipelines are already facing drone strikes, can the world truly bypass the perilous Strait of Hormuz?
Crude oil is flowing again, but why are gasoline and diesel prices still hovering near dangerous wartime highs?
With global stockpiles down two billion barrels, what happens to fuel prices when this massive emergency buffer finally runs dry?
The 2026 Strait of Hormuz Blockade: Global Oil Flows, Market Chaos, and the Human Cost of a Maritime War
Overview
The 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis began when the US and Israel killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, triggering immediate IRGC retaliation and the closure of the strait, which sent global energy prices soaring. The US responded with a naval blockade, but a brief Pakistan-brokered deal allowed limited safe passage before collapsing, leading Iran to resume attacks on non-compliant and 'dark' shipping. Escalating violence, including US strikes on Iranian tankers and Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, disrupted oil flows, spiked insurance costs, and forced governments to intervene in shipping markets. The prolonged blockade depleted global inventories, destabilized economies like India, and left the world facing severe energy and humanitarian crises.