Gulf states' diesel exports more than halve during the war on Iran

13 October 2026

BBC Verify, using figures from the shipping data company Kpler, says global diesel exports fell from around 6.8 million barrels per day in 2025 to around 5.8 million barrels per day in September 2026.
Exports from the Gulf states - Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman - fell from around 1.4 million barrels per day in 2025 to around 670,000 barrels per day in September 2026.
BBC Verify says this decline has been driven by the impact of the United States-Iran war on flows of refined diesel from the Gulf states through the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic has been disrupted by Iranian strikes on tankers and the United States blockade of Iran's ports.
Average United States retail diesel prices were $6.20 per gallon on 5 October 2026, against a record $6.50 per gallon on 21 September and around $3.50 before the war, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
UK diesel cost 199p a litre on 5 October 2026, according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Al Jazeera notes that before the war about 27 percent of global seaborne oil trade and almost 20 percent of liquefied natural gas trade transited through the Strait of Hormuz.