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More than 12 million barrels of oil have pass through the Strait of Hormuz per day this month — higher than last month’s daily average, despite the surge in attacks coming from Iran, analysts said.
Oil flow through the strait has seen an uptick since September, with more than 9 million barrels sailing daily directly under US military protection, according to both TankerTracker.com and the Kpler maritime analyst firm.
The increase in exports comes despite 26 vessels coming under attack so far in October, marking it as the most dangerous period for tankers and cargo ships since the war began.
The underlying danger was exemplified on Wednesday when a cargo ship sank after it was hit by an unknown projectile, according to Iran’s military and maritime incident analysts.
But the dangers at hand appear to be outweighed by the profits as sailors have repeatedly touted making tens of thousands of dollars more this past month by taking the risk.
Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for US Central Command (CENTCOM), estimated that some 19 million barrels of oil passed through on Monday alone.
“Transits through the Strait of Hormuz continue despite Iran’s unwarranted aggression,” Hawkins told The New York Times.
The oil trade, however, is starting to show signs of strain, with flow plummeting this past week after some of Iran’s most heavy attacks.
While nearly 23 million barrels of oil sneaked through the Strait of Hormuz last Thursday, only a tenth of that passed through on Wednesday, according to Kpler.
Kpler’s most recent 6-day average revealed that less than 4.6 million barrels of oil were transiting the strait every day, according to Kpler.
Ship-to-ship transfers around the Gulf of Oman have also remained relatively low this past week, according to maritime analysts.
The volatile situation, along with the Houthi’s repeated attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure, has kept the cost of oil up, with the Brent international benchmark remaining above $104 per barrel on Thursday.