Tankers crept through the Strait of Hormuz, despite a new vessel attack rattling an already unsettled energy market. Traffic through the waterway has more than tripled since a US-Iran interim peace deal, but remains far below prewar levels.
A key test of the truce is looming today as four empty supertankers head into the strait: Their journey would suggest shipping companies are confident that existing measures allow them to load cargo and freely leave for ports elsewhere.
The potential resumption of oil flows is already reshaping energy-market dynamics. With supply now abundant, Iraq’s president told The National that his country would suspend its OPEC membership if production quotas weren’t increased, following the UAE’s withdrawal from the group last month.