U.S.-Iran Deal Sets Strait of Hormuz Reopening for June 19 but Shipping Firms Await Formal Deal

-Iran agreement reached this month sets the Strait of Hormuz to reopen on Friday, June 19, 2026, three and a half months after it was closed. com reported that the deal marks the first step toward resuming oil and gas shipments through the waterway. Middle Eastern producers shut in more than 10 million barrels per day of oil production after the closure.

Producers will need months to return wells to prior output levels even after the strait reopens. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are expected to restore output faster than Iraq. Iraq curtailed the highest proportion of its production because it could not move crude from its southern fields through Basrah.

Alan Gelder, senior vice president of refining, chemicals, and oil markets at Wood Mackenzie, said fields in places like Iraq face greater challenges. “It may well take about a year before they get back,” Gelder told AP. Wood Mackenzie analysts stated that, assuming a measured and controlled ramp-up, affected fields could return to 70 percent of prior production within three months and 90 percent within six months.

The final 1 million barrels per day of shut-in production is projected to take considerably longer than six months to restore. Some shipping companies stated they will wait until the deal is formalized on Friday before attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz. Organizing insurance and other practical issues could further delay the recovery of export flows.