The Philippines received its first Iranian crude cargo after the Hormuz blockade cut off 98% of its oil supply, with delivery routed via a ship-to-ship transfer near Singapore.

The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve shipped 616,000 barrels of crude to the Philippines, its first Asia-bound cargo since 2022, as part of a 172M barrel release.

A rare U.S. strategic oil shipment to the Philippines underscores how the Hormuz crisis is forcing Asia to seek crude supplies outside the Middle East.