A surge of US crude oil is arriving in Asia, but the record volumes are nowhere near enough to offset the loss of cargoes from the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Asia’s imports of US crude were 63.56 million barrels in May, the most for a single month although at 2.05 million barrels per day (bpd) they were slightly behind the 2.07 million bpd from June 2023, according to data compiled by commodity analysts Kpler.
However, more US oil is on the way, with Kpler tracking arrivals of 2.32 million bpd in June and 3.07 million bpd in July.
This is more than double the average of 1.37 million bpd of US crude that Asia imported in the three months to the end of February.
The United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and Tehran retaliated by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of global crude oil and refined products moved prior to the start of the conflict.
While some Middle Eastern exporters such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have managed to re-route some oil exports to ports outside the strait, at least 10 million bpd of supply remains unavailable as the Iran conflict drags on.
About 1.2 million bpd of crude reached Asia in May through the Strait of Hormuz as some vessels secured Iranian approval to transit, but this is down from the average of 13.54 million bpd in the three months ended February.
The scale of the loss of cargoes through the strait overwhelms the additional volumes Asia has secured from the United States, as well as from....
