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Shadow oil shuttles keep millions of barrels flowing via Hormuz workaround
Around 150 vessels are gathered off Oman, up from roughly 40 in January, as shipping transponders are switched off to move cargoes around the strait.
OilPrice reports that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has predicted the Strait of Hormuz will become “irrelevant” within two years, as Gulf producers build alternative routes to keep barrels moving amid the Iran war.
According to OilPrice, the UAE, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar are moving more than 4 million barrels per day through a so-called shadow export network that relies on AIS-dark shuttle tankers and ship-to-ship transfers outside the Persian Gulf, allowing shipments to continue even as normal traffic through Hormuz is largely closed.
OilPrice says the workaround has expanded into one of the biggest responses to the conflict, with around 150 vessels now gathered off Oman, up from roughly 40 in January. It adds that tankers make repeated runs through Hormuz with transponders and lights switched off, then transfer cargoes to larger waiting vessels outside the strait.
OilPrice further reports that Saudi Arabia is preparing additional capacity through Bahri, which has positioned 16 VLCCs off Oman, with three more reportedly on the way. The article also links the buildup to renewed Houthi attacks that threaten existing escape routes through the East-West Pipeline and the Red Sea.