U.S. imports of Middle Eastern crude are set to hit about 600,000 barrels per day in August, the highest since the Iran war began, as a brief opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the rerouting of Saudi oil through the Suez Canal pushed barrels toward American ports, ship-tracking data showed.
Nearly a dozen ships loaded with Middle Eastern crude were headed to U.S. ports as American refiners and traders moved swiftly to snap up barrels that exited the strait when a memorandum of understanding signed by the U.S. and Iran in June helped release vessels from the maritime choke point.
Also boosting imports are cargoes from Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Yanbu that are traveling through the Suez Canal to the United States. Saudi Arabia has rerouted its crude output to Yanbu via its east-west pipeline to get around Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
However, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militants last month launched a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia, and the risk of attacks at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on the southern end of the Red Sea has forced many tankers to head north and exit the shipping channel via the Suez Canal.
That has increased exports from the region to the United States, as the journey to U.S. ports from the Suez Canal is shorter than the route to Asia. Vessels exiting via the northern route can still sail to Asia, but the voyage would take nearly four weeks longer than typical and raise costs.
"Sending Saudi crude on tankers to the U.S. rather than to Asia may be a preferable option given fleet logistics and the shorter time on the water," said Kpler analyst Matt Smith.
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