The Hormuz Strait is blocked, Saudi Arabia's March crude oil exports halved to 3.33 million barrels per day.

Due to Iran effectively blocking oil tankers from leaving the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports in March were cut in half, forcing the country to reroute its oil transportation to its western coast. According to tanker tracking data, Saudi Arabia's average crude oil exports in March were 3.33 million barrels per day. If the country is unable to transport the oil to export terminals on the Red Sea coast, the decrease in exports will be even more severe. As a crucial supplier of oil globally, Saudi Arabia accounts for about one-sixth of the total amount of crude oil transported by tankers worldwide. After Iran essentially cut off the route for Middle Eastern exporters to the open sea, the market has been closely watching the country's ability to maintain oil transportation. Tracking data shows that Saudi Arabia's average crude oil shipments in February were 6.66 million barrels per day. These two months' data do not include the cargoes that have been loaded but are still trapped in the Persian Gulf. After the outbreak of war, Saudi Arabia quickly redirected its crude oil from the Gulf export terminals to its East-West pipeline system. The pipeline spans nearly 750 miles, transporting oil from the country's eastern oil fields to refineries and ports on the Red Sea coast, with a maximum capacity of about 7 million barrels per day. When the pipeline operates at full capacity, Yanbu Port can export approximately 5 million barrels of crude oil per day. The remaining portion is supplied to refineries around Riyadh and the western coast of Saudi Arabia, or used for power plants and desalination plants on the Red Sea coast. Saudi Arabia rapidly increased the oil flow in the East-West pipeline to full capacity, assembling a fleet of super oil tankers in the Red Sea to mainly transport this oil to Asian customers. By the end of March, the shipments to overseas buyers from the two terminals in Yanbu Port had reached close to 5 million barrels per day. In addition, some crude oil is also being transported along the coastline to domestic users. At the same time, Saudi Arabia is also using its storage tanks along the coast of Egypt in the Mediterranean Sea to continue supplying customers in Europe and the East Coast of North America. Multiple super oil tankers have also loaded crude oil from storage facilities in Okinawa, Japan, which Saudi Aramco leases. Currently, there are still around 55 million barrels of Saudi crude oil stuck in the Persian Gulf, unable to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. These cargoes were loaded between the end of February and early March. Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is not complete. Last month, at least 6 oil tankers carrying Saudi crude oil successfully left the Gulf, but compared to the 126 that sailed in January, it is only a trickle. Saudi officials have not yet commented on the above data.