The number of commodity vessels observed to have moved in and out of the Strait of Hormuz remained stubbornly low on Wednesday and below the 10-day moving average as the United States and Iran remain distant on how to end the war.
On Wednesday, only ten commodity vessels transited the Strait, including nine inbound and only one outbound—a Supramax laden with fertilizer, according to shipping data compiled by Reuters early on Thursday.
That’s below the 10-day moving average of 17 vessels, despite an uptick in the daily transits compared to earlier this week.
The tracking excludes any movements of ships that have switched off their positioning systems to avoid detection or becoming targets of attacks.
Owners and energy exporters are becoming increasingly careful navigating through the Strait of Hormuz amid re-escalation of hostilities this month, including strikes on tankers, the threat from the Iran-aligned Houthis in the Red Sea, and the temporary shutdown of the East-West onshore pipeline in Saudi Arabia.
The Kingdom on Tuesday restored partial service on the East-West pipeline, which allows it to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ship crude oil out of the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
Meanwhile, Iran and the United States, which intensified indirect messaging and contacts on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this week, remain distant on any potential agreement to end the war.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed Tehran “will not bow” to U.S. pressure, while a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday, “There are still many differences between the Iranian and US positions, but diplomacy is continuing.”
Hopes of diplomacy prevailing this time had dragged Brent Crude prices below the $100 a barrel mark early this week.
But the Brent oil price rose early on Thursday, holding above $103 per barrel in Asian trading as of publication.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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