Gulf oil moves offshore as Iran targets the route: 24 ships in two weeks, Kuwait contracts 16.7%

Gulf oil crossing Hormuz today is carried by shuttle tankers to supertankers waiting off Sohar and Fujairah, where it is transferred between vessels before sailing to Asia. We traced this route stage by stage: who bears the risk, what it costs, why Japanese tankers have returned, and why Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain contract more than their peers in the IMF forecasts.

ships targeted by Iran in the strait over two weeks, according to the Financial Times

7.2

million barrels a day transferred between ships in the Gulf of Oman in September, according to Kpler

1.27

million dollars a day, the record supertanker charter rate on 22 September

16.7%

projected contraction in Kuwait’s economy in 2026, the Gulf’s steepest

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EL7 Research · Energy

13 October 2026 · Brent through the 12 October settlement