Oil held at sea rose by 103 million barrels in September, nearly matching a 113 million-barrel onshore draw and leaving observed global inventories 10 million barrels lower for the month.
Onshore stocks reached their lowest level since at least 2016. The rise in oil at sea offset most of the onshore decline in the combined inventory tally.
September closed with the global stockpile 509 million barrels under its pre-war level. The 509 million-barrel gap compares September’s closing stock level with the pre-war baseline; the 10 million-barrel figure compares observed stocks with their level a month earlier.
Gulf crude exports averaged 13.9 million barrels per day in September, up 4.4 million barrels per day from August and above three-quarters of pre-war volume. The export increase coincided with the rise in oil held at sea, but the figures do not establish that the shipments became those stocks.
European and Asian refiners faced higher delivered crude costs as tanker rates set records, compressing margins. That transport burden could slow the pass-through from larger Gulf exports to downstream prices.
The figures add to EconoTimes’ earlier coverage of the September oil rebound and diesel supply gap, which also noted the month-end stock shortfall and low onshore inventories.
