Iraq Resumes Oil Shipments Through Hormuz After Understandings, With Losses Reaching $60 Billion

Key Facts

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said oil shipments had resumed after understandings were reached with Washington and Tehran, a development that restores Iraqi exports through the Strait of Hormuz after their suspension. Hussein estimated Iraq’s losses from the halt in exports through the strait at about $60 billion through November 7, 2026. Reuters reported that the understandings allow exports to pass through a shipping corridor near Oman. Hussein said shipments had “resumed after understandings were reached with Washington and Tehran.” This comes as oil revenues are directly tied to the state’s finances: the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated that oil export revenues accounted for 90% of total Iraqi government revenues in 2023.

Recent export data point to a recovery in Iraqi flows during October. Reuters cited Iraqi energy officials as saying exports reached about 3.5 million barrels per day in October, compared with 2.65 million barrels per day in September. Iraq’s oil minister had said on October 19 that average exports exceeded 3.4 million barrels per day during the elapsed portion of the month. That figure describes an average through that date, while the later Reuters report gave an estimate of about 3.5 million barrels per day for October exports. OilPrice reported that Iraq had exported between 3.3 million and 3.5 million barrels per day before the war, a historical comparison with prewar levels.

The importance of resuming transit through Hormuz lies in Iraq’s reliance on seaborne exports shipped from the Gulf. According to an Energy Information Administration analysis, all of Iraq’s seaborne exports in 2024 left from southern terminals in the Persian Gulf. The agency describes Iraq as OPEC’s second-largest crude oil producer after Saudi Arabia. But route data are not limited to Hormuz: an October 2026 report says exports pass through Hormuz and Ceyhan, in addition to shipments by truck through Syria. In August 2026, Iraq and Turkey signed a one-year agreement to increase exports through a pipeline to the port of Ceyhan, stipulating a minimum of 750,000 barrels per day.

The understandings to resume shipments come amid disruption to maritime traffic and security risks in the region. Iran’s military said, according to the Associated Press, that two tankers struck mines in the Hormuz area and caught fire on November 7, without identifying the vessels’ flags or destinations. The agency had reported that U.S. forces had maintained a naval blockade of Iran around the strait for months. On November 3, the Associated Press reported that Saudi oil was also being transported through the strait using a U.S.-protected corridor near Oman’s coast. These events remain part of the context for vessel traffic through the corridor used by the resumed Iraqi exports.

In oil markets, Brent crude fell 1.5% to $96.91 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate dropped 1% to $89.85 in trading on Monday, November 9, at 0629 GMT. Reuters linked the decline to a lower likelihood of new U.S. strikes on Iran, while supply concerns persisted because of attacks on ships. In a separate estimate cited by Reuters from JPMorgan, the global supply surplus stood at 1.1 million barrels per day in September and widened to 1.4 million in October. The bank attributed the surplus to recovering flows, higher output from other countries and weak demand. OPEC has set Wednesday, November 11, as the date for issuing its monthly oil market report.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its weekly oil report on Thursday, November 12, covering the week ended November 6. The official schedule set this date in place of the usual schedule because of the Veterans Day holiday. The report follows the resumption of Iraqi shipments and the release of an estimate for October exports, placing its data among the near-term updates for the oil market. It is also due one day after OPEC’s report. The published schedules did not include new figures on the impact of the understandings on export flows after shipments resumed.