Strait of Hormuz Conflict Slashes Iraq's Monthly Oil Exports by 83 Million Barrels
Baghdad, Monday, 18 May 2026.
Iraq’s April oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz crashed from 93 million to just 10 million barrels, threatening global markets with a massive energy supply shock.
Rerouting Crude and Ambitious Production Targets
In response to the maritime blockade, Baghdad has accelerated alternative export routes. Following a pivotal agreement between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, crude exports through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline resumed in March 2026 [4]. Currently, Iraq is exporting 200,000 barrels per day through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, with definitive plans to increase this volume to 500,000 barrels [1] [alert! ‘The exact timeline for achieving this 500,000-barrel target remains unspecified’].
Geopolitical Maneuvering in the Strait
While Iraq scrambles to bypass the bottleneck, Iran is actively altering the operational rules within the Strait of Hormuz. According to Ebrahim Azizi, chairman of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, Tehran will soon unveil a “professional mechanism” to manage maritime traffic along a designated route [3]. This newly regulated corridor will explicitly block operators associated with “Project Freedom,” a United States military initiative designed to escort commercial vessels through the strait [3].