More than 8 million barrels of Iraqi oil are stuck on tankers despite the return of Gulf supplies.
More than 8 million barrels of Iraqi crude oil remain stuck on tankers, while more than 100 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products that had accumulated in the Gulf have begun to gradually return to global markets, providing a temporary relief to supplies, according to data from Standard & Poor’s Global Commodity Insights.
The report stated that Iraq has emerged as one of the leading countries in the recovery of oil production in the Middle East, along with the Sultanate of Oman, while major refineries in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait still need several months to restore their full operational capacity.
According to the data, the accumulated quantities of crude oil amounted to about 90.5 million barrels, while the remaining quantities were distributed among various petroleum products, with more than 90 million barrels of crude oil on board tankers waiting to leave.
Estimates also showed that Iraq has about 8.3 million barrels of oil stuck on tankers, coming after Iran (31.7 million barrels), Saudi Arabia (18.7 million barrels), and the UAE (17 million barrels), while Kuwait recorded 8.1 million barrels, Qatar 4 million barrels, and Oman 2.2 million barrels.
The report indicated that most Gulf oil exports are destined for East Asian markets, meaning that the return of these supplies could affect the balance of global supply and demand, and be reflected in the movement of oil prices and the revenues of producing countries, at a time when global banks expect exports to return to pre-war levels during the current month of July, with continued concerns that the impact of these quantities will be temporary before the actual production in the region recovers.
Shafaq.com