Gulf Countries Are Secretly Shipping Oil Through The Strait Of Hormuz

The UAE, Iraq, Qatar, and Kuwait export oil using this method.

The Gulf states have found a way to secretly transport oil through the Strait of Hormuz by transferring it to tankers in the Gulf of Oman—despite the fact that the vessels are regularly attacked by Iran. This was reported by Bloomberg.

According to the agency’s sources, this covert transit of tankers has become a critically important supply channel for global markets—the very same markets that were bracing for a far more severe oil shortage following the outbreak of war in the Middle East.

At the same time, the publication emphasizes that the situation for regional producers remains tense—ships are being attacked even when escorted by military vessels. These shuttle runs have been going on for several months now, but it is difficult for both traders and analysts to estimate the actual volume of oil transported by the “shadow” fleet: for security reasons, crews rarely disclose information about the ships’ locations. According to sources, shipments exceed 4 million barrels per day, though the exact figure is unknown.

Vessel tracking data shows that oil is being exported via this scheme from the UAE, Iraq, Qatar, and Kuwait. The scale of the operation is also confirmed by images from the European Sentinel-1 satellites: while there were about 40 vessels in the roadstead off the coast of Oman in January, their number has now risen to approximately 150—ranging from large-capacity oil tankers to bulk carriers. Most of these vessels are waiting to transship oil from tankers that are passing through the strait with their transponders turned off.

For example, the UAE’s national oil company, Adnoc, has already sold approximately 135 million barrels to buyers around the world and announced another round of sales.

Nevertheless, the transportation itself remains extremely risky: since the start of the conflict, 23 ADNOC tankers have been attacked, one crew member has been killed, and another 20 have been injured. According to sources, the actual number of incidents in the strait exceeds the officially confirmed figure.

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