After three months of upheaval, the Iran conflict and near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz have delivered a shock that has rewired global oil, fuel and LNG flows and caused historic disruption to energy product shipping in every region.
Here are six key charts to track how the energy and shipping sectors have been reshaped by the crisis as it enters its fourth month.
Despite an extended ceasefire and weeks of on-again, off-again talks, ship traffic via the Strait of Hormuz remains a fraction of its former levels.
In the month before the US and Israeli strikes on Iran at the end of February, roughly 70 vessels carrying crude oil, fuels, liquefied natural gas and other products transited Hormuz every day, according to LSEG data.
The cargoes on those ships accounted for around a fifth of global supplies of those commodities, particularly to Asian buyers that in some cases sourced well over half of their oil and fuel supplies from the Middle East.
Since March 1, however, average total daily transits through the Hormuz Strait have dropped to less than seven, and have averaged less than six vessels a day so far in May despite steady efforts to seal a peace deal and restore normal traffic from the region.
With ships denied passage through the Strait, export volumes of crude oil, refined products and LNG from the Middle East have collapsed to historic lows.
Monthly crude oil export volumes from the Middle East - by far the top oil supplying region - have shrunk from an average of around 75 million tonnes before the crisis to around 36 million tonnes a month since March, data from Kpler shows.
Total estimated loadings for January through May in 2026 are around 260 million tonnes, down sharply from just under 360 million tonnes for the same months in 2025.
To offset some of that roughly 100 million tonne shortfall, major oil exporters in other regions have attempted to boost shipments, with varying degrees of success.
Exports from the US - the top oil producer - have climbed to record highs, and total US loadings during January through May have climbed by 16 per cent from the year before to just over 86 million tonnes.
Exports from Canada, Brazil and Mexico have also jumped, resulting in total export loadings from the Americas rising by around 28 million tonnes from a year ago to around 236 million tonnes.
However, capacity constraints in Africa and restrictions on the trading of sanctioned barrels from Russia have limited the supply growth in crude oil from other regions. That has resulted in global crude loadings during January through May slipping by around eight per cent or by 71 million tonnes to around 800 million tonnes.
Total shipments of refined products - including gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and naphtha - have also slipped notably following the Iran war outbreak.
Global loadings during January through May were down 8.7 per cent or by around 31 million tonnes to just under 330 million tonnes.
Again, total loadings out of the Americas registered the largest year-over-year gain among all regions (by 19 per cent to just under 70 million tonnes). But other regions have been unable or unwilling to lift their fuel exports given the severity of the cuts to supplies from the Middle East and resulting tensions across energy markets.
The cost of shipping oil, fuels and LNG has jumped since the Iran conflict kicked off, acting as a key barometer of the challenge facing global energy markets as they try to accommodate the suddenly diminished role of the Middle East.
The main benchmark for shipping crude oil from the Middle East to China soared from around $130,000 a day before the crisis to more than $500,000 a day at the height of the bombing activity between the US and Israel and Iran, LSEG data shows.
Those rates have cooled off somewhat in the intervening weeks - to around $390,000 a day currently - as crude oil exporters in other regions stepped up competition just as crude importers took steps to curb consumption due to high prices.
However, most crude carrier rates remain sharply above pre-crisis levels as ship managers seek to exploit the panicky nature of crude oil markets since the Iran war started.
Rates for fuel tankers have also gyrated wildly in response to the drop in volumes from the Middle East, with many key routes seeing daily costs more than double since the start of the year.
Some key markets have seen shipping costs snap lower again - particularly from the United States - after global fleet managers rerouted vessels away from the clogged Middle East to markets with unfettered export capacity still available.
Even so, global fuel importers still face average shipping charges that remain well above pre-war levels, compounding worries over supply shortages and adding to inflation pressures in most economies.
Those concerns could intensify if a durable peace deal is not reached soon, as existing stockpiles of oil, fuel and gas are being drawn down and will need replenishing - potentially at both high commodity prices and elevated freight rates.
(Reporting by Gavin Maguire; Editing by Stephen Coates)
