Rising exports from Middle Eastern producers and a gradual recovery of crude transits through the Strait of Hormuz are capping global oil price upside. Traders monitoring shipments estimate roughly 6–8 mln bpd currently passing the chokepoint; flows fell in July after Iran carried out a series of attacks on VLCCs and a temporary truce collapsed. Throughput remains about half the level before those attacks, though estimates are volatile—Vortexa estimates about 10 mln bpd on average and U.S. offic

Rising exports from Middle Eastern producers and a gradual recovery of crude transits through the Strait of Hormuz are capping global oil price upside. Traders monitoring shipments estimate roughly 6–8 mln bpd currently passing the chokepoint; flows fell in July after Iran carried out a series of attacks on VLCCs and a temporary truce collapsed. Throughput remains about half the level before those attacks, though estimates are volatile—Vortexa estimates about 10 mln bpd on average and U.S. officials have cited higher figures. The UK navy said two merchant vessels were attacked on Monday, highlighting ongoing transit risk. Record-high VLCC freight rates are helping sustain the recovery by increasing incentives for owners to run the route.