Kuwait has declared force majeure on shipments of crude oil and refined petroleum products as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted vessel access to the Gulf and made it impossible to meet some delivery obligations, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
State-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) notified customers on Friday that it was invoking the contractual clause that allows suppliers to miss deliveries under exceptional circumstances, according to a document cited by Bloomberg.
The move does not necessarily mean exports will stop completely, according to a person familiar with the matter, who said some supplies may continue despite the declaration.
The disruption comes as the war involving Iran has pushed traffic through the Strait of Hormuz close to a standstill, creating a bottleneck for Gulf energy exporters and adding further strain to global oil markets.
The near-shutdown of the key maritime route has also led storage facilities in the region to fill up rapidly, while Gulf countries that depend heavily on oil and fuel exports have faced mounting pressure on output and revenues.
RelatedTRT World – Iranian drone strikes cause major damage to Kuwaiti government complex
Kuwait suffers infrastructure strikes