Daily oil exports from the Middle Eastern Gulf have fallen sharply amid ongoing disruptions linked to the US -Iran war, with flows dropping by more than 60% in the week ending March 15 compared to February levels, according to shipping data and industry estimates, Reuters reported.

The decline follows the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route that typically carries around one-fifth of global oil supplies. The disruption has forced producers to halt shipments and curtail output at several fields, resulting in one of the largest supply shocks in the global oil market. As a result, crude prices have surged to their highest levels in four years, while refined fuel prices have reached record highs.

Exports of crude oil, condensate, and refined products from eight key regional producers, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), averaged about 9.71 million barrels per day (mmbbl/d) during the week, down from 25.13 million bpd in February, based on Kpler data.

Separate figures from Vortexa indicate an even steeper decline, with exports falling to around 7.5 mmbbl/d last week compared to 26.1 mmbbl/d the previous month.

Before the conflict, these eight countries collectively accounted for roughly 36% of global seaborne oil exports, equivalent to more than 70 mmbbl/d, highlighting the scale of the disruption.

Market analysts note that actual export volumes could be even lower, as a growing share of crude is being diverted into floating storage rather than shipped to end markets. According to Kpler, floating storage of Middle Eastern crude has exceeded 50 million barrels (mmbbl), compared to around 10 million barrels (mmbbl) before the escalation.

Major Gulf producers, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE, collectively account for over a third of global seaborne oil exports, making any disruption in their production highly impactful on global energy markets.