Bahri Supertankers Signal Potential Restart of Hormuz Oil Flows After US-Iran Accord
At least four Saudi-owned supertankers idling in the Indian Ocean for weeks turned toward the Gulf of Oman on June 18 2026 while three others exited the Strait of Hormuz the same day after months stranded in the Persian Gulf Bloomberg reported based on vessel tracking data. The movements by ships owned by Saudi tanker operator Bahri indicate producers are preparing to resume crude flows through the waterway following a US-Iran peace agreement signed days earlier. The US Energy Information Administration data placed average oil transit through the strait at 20.9 million barrels per day in the first half of 2025 equivalent to one-fifth of global petroleum liquids consumption.
Bloomberg said the four tankers made sharp turns early on Thursday after lingering offshore while the three that had been trapped inside the Persian Gulf since before the conflict sailed into the Gulf of Oman. Reuters reported that three Saudi-flagged supertankers carrying six million barrels of crude passed through the strait hours after the deal was signed according to ship tracking information. Nikkei Asia placed the total number of oil tankers and gas carriers transiting the waterway at a minimum of six on that day with some heading toward Asian discharge ports.
The US and Iran signed the memorandum of understanding to end their war around June 15 2026 with President Donald Trump announcing the agreement that shifted immediate focus to restoring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz according to multiple Bloomberg briefings on the negotiations. The International Energy Agency estimated that the conflict which began earlier in 2026 had reduced Gulf oil production by at least 10 million barrels per day after tanker traffic plunged from pre-war levels. Prior to the disruptions roughly 15 million barrels per day of crude and condensate had moved through the strait alongside six million barrels per day of petroleum products the IEA assessment found.
Saudi Arabia accounted for 37.2 percent of all crude and condensate exports transiting the Strait of Hormuz before the conflict according to Visual Capitalist analysis of Energy Information Administration figures with China receiving 37.7 percent of the total volumes as the largest single buyer. Bahri the Saudi national shipping company manages a fleet of very large crude carriers that form a cornerstone of the kingdom’s export logistics and had kept vessels dark or stationary during the hostilities to avoid risks. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters on the latest sailings.
The interim deal has prompted a broader resumption of shipping with Iranian tankers also reported exiting blockade zones in the days leading up to the signing Al Jazeera said citing TankerTrackers monitoring. The Congressional Research Service noted that the strait had been declared closed by Iranian forces at the outset of hostilities in March 2026 leading to attacks on vessels and a near-total shutdown of commercial traffic. Alternative pipelines such as Saudi Arabia’s East-West line to the Red Sea and the UAE’s Habshan-Fujairah route operated at full capacity during the disruption but covered only a fraction of the lost volumes the IEA reported.
Ship tracking data continued to show additional vessels activating transponders and moving through designated lanes around Larak Island in the days after the agreement Nikkei Asia reported. The developments arrive as global markets assess the pace at which full oil exports from Gulf producers can recover with storage levels elevated from the months-long outage. The US Energy Information Administration has tracked consistent growth in product cargoes through the strait in recent years even as crude volumes fluctuated prior to the conflict.
