Episode Details

Three supertankers carrying an estimated six million barrels of crude transited the Strait of Hormuz this week — cargos bound for Japan and China, the first to move through the strait since the conflict began. Japan, whose crude imports from the Middle East had fallen to their lowest level on record, is now welcoming its first Gulf cargo since the war started. This is not a reopening. Normal Hormuz traffic moves thirteen-plus million barrels per day. Six million barrels across several days is a trickle — notable for the signal it sends, not for the supply relief it provides.