Qatari LNG tanker clears Hormuz, first exit since 11 July

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker controlled by QatarEnergy left the Strait of Hormuz on 29 July, the first such departure since 11 July, according to ship-tracking data cited by Reuters. The vessel, the Al Areesh, loaded its cargo at Qatar's Ras Laffan terminal between 4 and 6 July and is now routed to Port Qasim in Pakistan, with arrival expected on 31 July.

The strait had been effectively blocked to Qatari LNG traffic since the conflict with Iran escalated, following U.S. and Israeli strikes earlier in the year. The last tanker to exit before this was the Al Hamra, which departed on 11 July after loading at Das Island in the United Arab Emirates. Iran's Fars news agency reported that a Qatari LNG ship passed through a route in the strait designated by Iran, though it gave no vessel details. The Strait of Hormuz normally carries around a fifth of the world's crude oil and LNG supplies, so any resumption of flow matters to the global balance.

What this means for UK buyers

The UK does not import Qatari cargoes directly in volume, but LNG is a globally priced commodity. When Hormuz flows stall, cargoes that would have reached Asia get rerouted, tightening the pool of spot LNG that competes for European and UK regasification slots. A single tanker exit does not reset that, but it signals the corridor is not fully closed, which tempers the risk premium building into forward gas.

The chart below shows NBP day-ahead gas over recent months, against which the easing of any Hormuz risk premium can be judged.

For buyers, the practical watch-points are:

• Whether QatarEnergy exits become regular rather than one-off
• The status of the ADNOC Gas-controlled Mraweh, tracked back inside the strait in ballast on Thursday
• Daily transit counts through Hormuz (12 commodity ships on Wednesday, up on prior days)
• Bab el-Mandeb throughput (19 ships Wednesday per Kpler, 26 per LSEG)
• Red Sea crude loadings from Yanbu, down at least 30% last week

Bloomberg reported that tankers carrying Qatari LNG had attempted their first Hormuz exit since the war began, framing this departure as a test of the corridor rather than a clean reopening. The parallel picture in the Red Sea remains fragile: Vortexa's George Morris noted a marked rise in crude and condensate tankers heading north after loading, reflecting security risks around Bab el-Mandeb, with Yanbu cargoes making up roughly 15% of Asia's seaborne crude imports in June.

Watch whether these exits become a pattern over the next fortnight. One tanker clearing the strait eases sentiment; sustained flow would take the conflict premium out of the curve. If Hormuz traffic stalls again, expect that premium to rebuild quickly, so flex buyers with cover to place should track the daily transit data rather than the headlines.