Three Supertankers Exit Strait of Hormuz With 6 Million Barrels

Three commercial supertankers carrying a combined six million barrels of Middle East crude oil successfully exited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, marking one of the largest single-day flows of oil through the strategic waterway since a conflict began in late February. The vessels had been stranded inside the Persian Gulf for over two months.

The crude was divided among three Very Large Crude Carriers bound for Asian refining hubs. The Universal Winner, a South Korean-flagged vessel carrying two million barrels of Kuwaiti crude, is en route to Ulsan, South Korea, with an expected arrival by June 9. Two other tankers, the Chinese-flagged Yuan Gui Yang and the Hong Kong-flagged Ocean Lily, each carrying two million barrels of Iraqi and Qatari crude, are heading to ports in Guangdong and Fujian provinces in China, with arrivals expected in early June.

Shipping through the strait, which normally handles about one-fifth of global oil flows, has been severely curtailed since late February. Before the conflict, an average of 125 to 140 vessels transited the waterway daily. Recent traffic has averaged about ten vessels per day entering and exiting, with crude oil tankers representing...