Five Ships Cross Strait of Hormuz on Saturday as Shipping Slows After Tanker Attacks
Key Facts
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed over the weekend, with 5 commercial vessels crossing on Saturday and none recorded on Sunday, compared with 31 vessels over the previous weekend, according to vessel-tracking data from Kpler cited by Reuters on November 8. The decline followed attacks on tankers as U.S.-Iranian talks aimed at resolving the Middle East conflict stalled. That puts the route for Iraqi oil exports at the center of shipping developments, as the International Energy Agency said Iraq relies on the strait to export the vast majority of its oil. Reports of new Iraqi-U.S. understandings to ensure oil passes through the corridor could not be verified. The confirmed news that day, therefore, was the slowdown in maritime traffic, not new arrangements for Iraqi transit.
Transit data cited from Kpler show a sharp gap between two consecutive weekends: 5 commercial vessels were recorded crossing on Saturday, none on Sunday, compared with 31 vessels over the previous weekend. Reuters reported that attacks on tankers preceded the decline, while talks between the United States and Iran had stalled. These developments link security risks to shipping activity without, on their own, establishing the cause of each transit or shipping decision. For Iraq, activity in the strait matters directly because its oil exports depend heavily on the passage. The available information included no verified details of a new understanding concerning those exports.
The strait also affects the global oil market: about 15 million barrels of crude a day passed through it in 2025, equivalent to roughly 34% of global crude trade, according to the International Energy Agency. That volume gives any slowdown in vessel traffic significance beyond Iraqi trade, while weekend transit figures remain separate from measures of daily oil flows. The International Energy Agency said Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, along with Iran, rely on Hormuz to deliver the vast majority of their oil exports. Iraq's prewar exports, meanwhile, stood at about 3.5 million barrels a day, with most shipped from southern terminals through the strait, according to the Associated Press. This background shows how closely Iraq's export route is tied to continued passage through the corridor.
Before the report was published on November 8, daily Brent crude futures settled at $104.77 on November 2 and then at $98.32 on November 6, according to EL7 data. West Texas Intermediate settled at $96.46 on November 2 before ending the November 6 session at $90.83. These prices reflect moves through the latest close included in the data; they predate the report of slower shipping and do not measure the market's response to it. In the OPEC+ context, 7 countries met virtually on November 1 and decided to keep December's required production level at September 2026's level. The seven countries set November 29 for their next meeting to review market conditions.