---
title: "Gulf oil flows through Hormuz near 80% of pre-war levels"
description: "The US Navy escorts tankers past an increasingly aggressive Iran as inventories shrink and fuel prices stay at records"
author: "rews desk"
published: 2026-09-30T12:05:45Z
modified: 2026-09-30T13:13:05Z
url: https://rews.cc/a/gulf-producers-ship-most-pre-war-oil-through-hormuz-despite--d0e3b9
language: en
tags: ["iran", "oil", "war", "hormuz", "economy", "world", "mideast"]
publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)"
---

# Gulf oil flows through Hormuz near 80% of pre-war levels

*The US Navy escorts tankers past an increasingly aggressive Iran as inventories shrink and fuel prices stay at records*

By rews desk · September 30, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/gulf-producers-ship-most-pre-war-oil-through-hormuz-despite--d0e3b9

## In brief

- Oil flows through Hormuz averaged 13.1m barrels a day last week, just under 80% of pre-war levels, Kpler said
- Trump on Sept 26 rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the strait for seven days, The Economist reported
- Global oil inventories have fallen by about 2 billion barrels during the war, according to JPMorgan
- Crude traded above $100 for most of September and diesel passed $6 a gallon, a record
- Iran has stepped up tanker attacks as mediators work to end the seven-month conflict

Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz reached nearly 80% of pre-war levels last week, as Gulf producers, backed by the US Navy, shipped crude despite Iran’s efforts to control the waterway.

Oil and petroleum products averaged 13.1 million barrels per day through the strait last week, just under 80% of the 17.1 million barrels that had passed each day before the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, according to Kpler, a marine data tracking service, CNN reported.

> Given such a strong volume passing through the strait, it is clear Iran is losing its influence over it.

Matt Smith, director of commodity research at Kpler, made that assessment after months in which military-escorted shuttle convoys and covert “dark” transits of the strait restored flows for Middle East producers, according to CNN. Traffic has also been lifted by Saudi Arabia shifting crude back through the strait after Iran-allied Houthis bombed the kingdom’s East-West pipeline earlier this month, temporarily halting roughly 7 million barrels a day bound for the Red Sea.

President Donald Trump on September 26 rejected an Iranian ceasefire proposal that would have reopened the strait for seven days, The Economist reported, adding that Trump said Iran wants a deal because it is “losing so badly” and that he and his advisers believe America has more to gain by waiting. Tehran had offered to open the waterway within a week, [according to earlier rews reporting](https://rews.cc/a/iran-offers-us-a-seven-day-plan-to-reopen-the-strait-of-horm-8efb64).

The recovery carries a cost. Global oil inventories have fallen by around 2 billion barrels during the course of the war, according to JPMorgan, even as pipeline diversions, military escorts, production from outside the Gulf and a decline in global demand kept the market supplied. The US military is expending what CNN described as tremendous resources to keep oil moving.

Oil stayed above $90 a barrel all month and traded above $100 for most of September, nearing $110 after the pipeline attack. Diesel passed its previous record earlier this month and is priced well above $6 a gallon. “For the first time since the start of the Iran conflict, we don’t have a baseline view,” Natasha Kaneva, JPMorgan’s head of global commodities strategy, wrote in a note to clients two weeks ago. “We simply don’t know how to model the endgame.”

Iran, unable to export its own oil through the strait because of a US naval blockade and losing a key source of economic leverage, has stepped up attacks on tankers transiting the Gulf, CNN reported. “Not surprisingly, attacks on tankers have become more common as Iran looks to deter transits,” Smith said. “We should expect this to persist as Iran seeks to regain its grip on the strait.”

Satellite imagery from Sunday showed all seven berths open at two key Saudi ports, Yanbu and Al Muajjiz, signalling the East-West pipeline has ramped back up, according to Kpler.

Iran and the United States are working with mediators to end seven months of hostilities, Al Jazeera reported, with the shifting reality in the strait potentially changing the negotiations. Kaneva cautioned that the arrangement remains fragile. “For now, the workaround appears to be working – so long as Iran allows it to,” she wrote.

## Sources

- [Iran has lost considerable leverage in the Strait of Hormuz](https://cnn.com/2026/09/29/economy/oil-strait-of-hormuz-iran) — cnn.com
- [‘Economic war’: Is Iran losing its leverage over the Strait of Hormuz?](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/30/economic-war-is-iran-losing-its-leverage-over-the-strait-of-hormuz) — aljazeera.com
- [Has Iran lost its grip on Gulf oil exports?](https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2026/09/29/has-iran-lost-its-grip-on-gulf-oil-exports) — The Economist