Overview
- Monitoring group TankerTrackers reported that Kuwait exported no crude in April 2026, which it said would be the first zero-export month since the 1991 Gulf War.
- Kuwait kept producing oil but moved barrels into storage and processed some into refined fuels for export, according to the tracking firm.
- The group linked the halt to restricted flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that carries much of the Gulf’s oil to global markets.
- US Central Command said it redirected 48 vessels in the Persian Gulf over the past 20 days and described operations constraining Iranian ports, with the USS New Orleans operating in the Arabian Sea.
- Qatar urged Iran to uphold freedom of navigation and warned that any closure of Hormuz could strain energy and food supplies and unsettle supply chains in Asia and Europe.