Kuwait Offers First Asian Crude Cargoes Since Iran War Began

Kuwait Offers First Asian Crude Cargoes Since Iran War Began State-owned Kuwait Petroleum is selling four million barrels directly to Chinese and South Korean refiners, the clearest sign yet that Gulf export traffic is normalising. Kuwait is offering crude directly to Asian refiners for the first time since the Iran war began, with at least four million barrels of its main export grade loaded on two very large crude carriers being marketed to buyers in China and South Korea, traders familiar with the matter said on Tuesday (2026-06-09).⁶ The detail that gives the offer weight is the seller. The cargoes are being sold directly by state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp., not through a trading intermediary, the same traders said, whereas earlier flows out of the Gulf were likely arranged with the help of such middlemen. A national oil company returning to direct sales is a sign that exporters now expect cargoes to clear reliably enough to commit barrels to named buyers.⁶ The offer follows a resumption of physical traffic out of the Gulf. Three supertankers carrying a combined six million barrels of Middle East crude exited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday (2026-05-20), after sitting inside the Gulf for more than two months, shipping data on LSEG and Kpler showed.^2,3 Among them was the South Korean-flagged VLCC Universal Winner, carrying two million barrels of Kuwaiti crude loaded on March 4, which moved out behind two departing Chinese tankers.^2,3 That a Kuwaiti barrel loaded in early March was only clearing in late May shows how long the lane stayed effectively shut.² Price action tracked the disruption and the relief. Brent crude jumped 51% in March, one of the largest one-month surges on record, and rose more than 55% from around $72 a barrel on February 27 to nearly $120 at its peak, CNBC reported, before easing as fears receded.¹ ICE Brent crude front-month now trades around $91.11, up 0.29% on Tuesday (2026-06-09), well off that peak but still above the pre-war level. The retreat in flat price helps explain the timing. Selling directly into China and South Korea at current levels lets Kuwait Petroleum monetise grade that had been stranded, and tells the rest of the Asian buying complex that Gulf supply is open for routine business again.⁶ Still, the all-clear is partial. The cargoes now on offer are a handful set against the much larger volumes that normally transit the strait, and the resumption rests on a war whose course is unresolved. Energy analysts had long feared a blockade of the lane, and traders who expected disruptions to last days rather than weeks were proved wrong once already.^5,4 The damage to producers' economics was acute while the lane was closed. JPMorgan estimated on March 3rd that Kuwait had about 14 days before hitting storage limits and being forced to shut in the crude it exports via Hormuz.⁵ The direct offer suggests Kuwait either never reached that wall or is now confident enough to draw down whatever it built up.⁶ For traders the question is durability. The signals to watch are how quickly Chinese and South Korean refiners lift the cargoes, whether other Gulf producers follow Kuwait back to direct sales, and how much of the two-month backlog of stranded VLCCs clears in coming weeks.^6,2 A national oil company committing barrels to named buyers is the strongest evidence yet that the market is pricing the Gulf as functional again. Whether that holds depends on a conflict that has already surprised the desk more than once.^6,5