Hormuz Oil Flows Creep Higher as More Supertankers Exit

Tankers anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, in a photo from Iran’s ISNA news agency on May 2.

Photographer: Amirhossein Khorgooei/AFP/Getty Images

The number of supertankers hauling unsanctioned oil through the Strait of Hormuz has shown signs of rising in recent days, offering limited relief to an oil market that’s suffered the largest supply disruption in history.

Four ships each hauling 2 million barrels of mostly-Iraqi crude have exited since May 10 — a rate close to 2 million barrels a day — according to vessel tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Still, prior to the war, there were about 20 or so tankers of various sizes crossing the waterway daily.