Thanks to our incredible US Navy fending off attacks from Iran, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent shutting down funding to Iran, Iranian crude has been shut down. However, fuel out of Hormuz for everyone else is at about 80% of prewar levels.
CHART OF THE DAY: Crude oil exports from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Qatar (via all routes). At a huge costs and with the help of the US Navy, the group has lifted oil exports to nearly 80% of pre-war levels (Important to note is only *crude*). pic.twitter.com/9lidYlF0qw
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) September 28, 2026
This is insane.
Oil exports from the Persian Gulf are almost back to pre-war levels.
Meanwhile, Iranian exports have literally hit zero.
Blockading Iran’s blockade actually worked.
Iran can’t stand this for much longer. pic.twitter.com/fhhGlAX280
— Oguz Erkan (@oguzerkan) September 28, 2026
However, the diesel crisis is not caused by the Iran War. It’s largely because of Ukraine’s bombing of Russian refineries. President Trump told Zelenskyy to stop bombing the refineries, but he keeps bombing them.
The loss of fuel supply from the Middle East is much larger, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. Figures from the International Energy Agency show that diesel output lost in the Middle East was three times as high as Russian supply lost.
Sen. Thune and others in Congress want to ban diesel exports, but Energy Secretary Chris Wright said it’s a bad idea. It would guarantee higher prices. There is also a question as to whether Big Oil is price gouging.
The situation is serious.