Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz fell nearly 30% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the previous quarter, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday.
The volume of crude oil, condensate, and petroleum products transported through the strategic waterway dropped to 14.6 million barrels per day in the January-March period, down from 20.7 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the EIA’s newly released Global Energy Security Data.
Flows were also sharply lower compared with the same period last year, when 20.4 million barrels per day moved through the strait.
Crude oil and condensate flows through Hormuz declined to 10.7 million barrels per day in the first quarter from 15.2 million barrels per day in the previous quarter, while petroleum product flows fell to 3.9 million barrels per day from 5.5 million.
Liquefied natural gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz also dropped to 7.3 billion cubic feet per day in the first quarter from 10.1 billion cubic feet per day in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The EIA said its estimates are based on tanker-tracking data from Vortexa, supplemented by its own analysis, noting that ship-tracking data for vessels transiting Hormuz have become “especially unreliable” since the end of February 2026.
The agency said 2026 Hormuz volumes are being revised frequently based on the best available information.
As flows through Hormuz declined, oil volumes transported through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait rose to 5.4 million barrels per day in the first quarter from 5.2 million barrels per day in the previous quarter.
Oil flow through the Panama Canal also increased to 2.9 million barrels per day from 2.8 million over the same period.
The Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran and Oman, is one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, linking Gulf producers with global markets.