SEATTLE (Oil Monster): U.S. imports of Iraqi crude oil collapsed during 2026 as disruption around the Strait of Hormuz sharply reduced Iraq's ability to move barrels from its southern export terminals.
U.S. Energy Information Administration data show Iraqi crude imports falling from 8.192 million barrels in January to 7.115 million in February, 6.014 million in March, 3.250 million in April and 2.210 million in May.
By June, monthly crude imports had fallen to just 504,000 barrels, a decline of approximately 94% from January.
EIA reported no Iraqi crude imports for July. Crude shipments resumed at 628,000 barrels in August, still far below levels recorded at the beginning of the year.
The broader EIA category covering crude oil and petroleum products shows total Iraqi imports rising to 1.486 million barrels in July and 1.387 million barrels in August.
Those figures should not be interpreted as crude-only imports. July's reported volume consisted of petroleum products, including unfinished oils, while August included both 628,000 barrels of crude and additional petroleum products.
The distinction between crude oil and total petroleum imports materially changes the story. U.S. purchases of Iraqi crude did not recover to 1.5 million barrels in July. EIA shows no crude volume that month, followed by only 628,000 barrels in August. The crude trade therefore remained severely depressed even as other Iraqi petroleum-product shipments resumed.
Iraq relies heavily on southern export terminals accessed through the Strait of Hormuz.
Before the conflict, southern Iraqi exports averaged more than 3 million barrels per day. Reuters reported that production from the country's main southern fields fell from about 4.3 million bpd before the war to approximately 1.3 million bpd as tanker access was disrupted and storage filled.
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Iraq has since been working to restore production while expanding alternatives to its southern Gulf terminals.
The country is seeking higher throughput through the Iraq-Türkiye Pipeline to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan and is evaluating additional export corridors through Syria, Jordan and the Red Sea.
OilMonster previously reported that Iraq aims to increase flows through the Türkiye route while reducing its dependence on the Strait of Hormuz.
The collapse in U.S.-bound Iraqi crude illustrates why Baghdad is accelerating alternative export routes. Northern pipelines cannot yet replace the scale of Iraq's southern terminals, but every additional Mediterranean or Red Sea outlet reduces the country's exposure to a single maritime chokepoint.
The next EIA monthly release will show whether Iraqi crude shipments to the United States began recovering more meaningfully after August.
For Iraq, the larger issue remains how quickly southern exports normalize and whether alternative routes through Türkiye and proposed Mediterranean and Red Sea corridors can provide meaningful backup capacity.
