U.S. imports of Middle Eastern crude oil are set to hit about 600,000 barrels each day during August ’26. The disruption to Middle Eastern crude supply has positioned U.S. crude as the preferred, which would be the highest since the Iran war commenced. Ship-tracking data reflected that the brief opening of the Strait of Hormuz, besides the rerouting of Saudi oil through the Suez Canal, may have pushed barrels towards American ports.
Nearly a dozen ships loaded with Middle Eastern crude. U.S. ports received nearly a dozen ships loaded with Middle Eastern crude. During this time, American refiners and traders quickly moved to purchase barrels that had exited the strait. This was when a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the U.S. & Iran in June ’26 helped release vessels from the maritime choke point.
Meanwhile, cargoes from Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu are boosting imports. These are moving through the Suez Canal to the U.S. Saudi has rerouted its crude output to Yanbu through its east-west pipeline to get around Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Meantime, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants launched a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia last month. Many tankers have been compelled by the risk of attacks at the Bab-el-Mendeb Strait on the southern end of the Red Sea to head north and exit the shipping channel through the Suez Canal.
This has increased exports from the region to the U.S. The journey to U.S. ports is shorter than the route to Asia. Vessels exiting through the northern route may still sail to Asia. However, the voyage may take nearly 4 weeks longer than the typical route, besides increasing costs.
Kpler analyst Matt Smith believed that sending Saudi crude on tankers to the U.S. rather than to Asia may be a preferred option given fleet logistics and shorter durations on water.
A Liberia-flagged tanker, Aquakoyalty, chartered by U.S. refiner PBF Energy (PBF.N), LOADED CRUDE OIL AT Egypt’s Sidi Kerir port to discharge at Paulsboro in New Jersey on Thursday, 6 August. This Aframax tanker has a capacity to carry about 750,000 barrels.
Marshall Islands-flagged supertanker Front Gaula loaded Saudi crude earlier this month at Yanbu. It was headed to the U.S. after passing the Suez Canal. As it’s a massive crude carrier (VLCC), it can only traverse the canal partially loaded. The vessel lightens its load on the Red Sea side by shipping a portion of the crude on Egypt’s SUMED pipeline. Thereafter, it reloads the barrels on the Mediterranean side after traversing the canal.
Weekly data from the Energy Information Administration reflected that no Middle Eastern crude barrels reached the U.S. last month. Imports peaked at about 708,000 bpd in February of this year. The U.S. had not received crude from Saudi Arabia for 5 straight weeks as of the end of July. Neither had the U.S. any oil from Iraq for 6 consecutive weeks.
Dozens of unloaded vessels sail to the U.S.
Meantime, the redirection of some of the Saudi crude to the U.S. has tightened supplies for Asian refiners who have looked to American oil.
A Reuters analysis of ship tracking data & fixtures reflected that at least 2 dozen empty VLCCs were signaling the U.S. as their destination to load oil. Likewise, a large convoy sailed toward the U.S. in April ’26 as refiners and traders in Asia & Europe scrambled for alternative barrels. The disruption to Middle Eastern crude supply has positioned U.S. crude as the preferred after the Strait of Hormuz was shut in.
This disruption to Middle Eastern crude supply has made U.S. crude the go-to alternative source for global buyers. This disruption draws empty supertankers to American ports to load crude.
An analyst with Vortexa, Rohit Rathod, said that U.S. barrels continue to remain the marginal source balancing export markets. This trend is pulling VLCCs towards the Gulf Coast for late-August & September loading. Rathod added that adding that empty vessel hearing to the U.S. may be as high as 40.
