By Ahmad Ghaddar, Jonathan Saul and Nerijus Adomaitis
LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) – Gulf oil exports in June jumped more than 3 million barrels from May to exceed 10 million barrels per day as the U.S. military helped to keep oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, data showed, though exports remained 40% below pre-war levels.
The United Arab Emirates led the recovery, allowing millions of barrels of crude stranded in the Gulf to reach international markets, enabling producers to raise output and lower oil prices to pre-conflict levels.
Combined crude and condensate exports from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran rose by more than 3.5 million bpd from May to 10.07 million bpd, Kpler data shows.
Vortexa, another cargo analytics company, estimated June flows at 10.2 million bpd, up from 7 million bpd in May but still way short of the 16.5 million bpd a year earlier.
Since the June 17 agreement between the U.S. and Iran to halt the conflict and restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the backlog of crude stranded in the Gulf cleared more quickly, leaving about 23 million barrels still to transit the waterway, said Kpler analyst Johannes Rauball.
Floating storage in the strait had peaked at 96 million barrels in late April, he added.
UAE exports reached a record 3.7 million to 3.8 million bpd in June, Kpler, Vortexa and LSEG data showed, more than 1 million bpd above May levels.
Ship broker BRS said 98 tankers crossed the strait between June 22 and June 28, about 14 a day and the highest since the conflict began. The traffic included 47 laden outbound tankers and 41 ballast vessels entering the Gulf, indicating ship owners are increasingly willing to send vessels into the region.
Saudi crude exports rose by 768,000 bpd to 4.52 million bpd in June, according to Kpler. Exports averaged about 6.3 million bpd last week, close to January levels, as Riyadh boosted loadings from Ras Tanura.
During the conflict, Saudi Arabia and the UAE diverted some exports through pipelines bypassing Hormuz, an option largely unavailable to Iraq and Kuwait. ADNOC also used a tanker shuttle service to help to sustain exports.
Exports from Iraq and Kuwait recovered to about 800,000 bpd each, Vortexa data showed.
Kuwait raised output sharply in June to 1.65 million bpd, a source told Reuters. Iran raised exports by more than 70% in June to 640,000 bpd as the U.S. blockade eased, Vortexa said.
(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar, Jonathan Saul and Nerijus AdomaitisEditing by David Goodman)
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