Arabian Gulf oil flows have held near 14 million barrels a day despite the latest escalation in tension between the U.S. and Iran, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday.
“The seven-day trailing average right now is just under 7 million barrels a day” through the Strait of Hormuz, Wright told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl on “This Week.” There are just under 7 million barrels a day bypassing the strategic waterway through pipelines, two-thirds of pre-conflict flow, he added.
“That is dramatically up from where we were in March when I was last on your show,” Wright said.
Oil is moving through a southern route near the Omani coastline “that’s protected by American infrastructure,” Wright said. “The ship numbers are down more dramatically, but of course we’re flowing larger tankers now to keep the world markets as well supplied as we can.”
The conflict has disrupted crude flows through the Strait, tightening near‑term supply as shippers face delays and elevated risk along the world’s most critical energy chokepoint. Before the conflict, about 20 million barrels a day flowed through the waterway.
Traffic showed signs of recovery during the three weeks following the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding. However, tanker movements through the Strait of Hormuz fell sharply late last week with the resumption of military strikes by the U.S. and Iran.
Hormuz Traffic At Reduced Levels
The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said on Sunday that commercial traffic through Hormuz remained at reduced levels. “Vessels are transiting via both the southern Omani corridor and the northern Iranian-controlled route,” the JMIC said.
Iran has attacked eleven vessels since June 25 in the Strait, the JMIC said. That has kept the threat level at “Severe,” with “deliberate hostile action considered highly likely under current conditions,” it added.
The attacks on commercial vessels sparked a U.S. military response against Iranian targets. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has hit Iranian military capabilities to hold Iran “accountable for recent attacks on commercial shipping.”
CENTCOM said that its forces hit Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, maritime capabilities, and missile and drone storage sites to continue degrading Iranian military capabilities. It was the eighth consecutive day that U.S. forces targeted Iran.
Iranian Threatens Energy Route
Iran has warned that it would expand its targeting of Gulf Arab nations in response to U.S. strikes against its infrastructure. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said countries hosting U.S. forces in the region should be prepared for a proportionate response.
Tehran has also threatened to block all regional oil and gas exports if the U.S. tried to control shipping traffic through Hormuz. Iranian officials have accused the U.S. of acting like “pirates” by restricting energy flows in the region.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) reiterated on Sunday that control of Hormuz is “fully” in its hands, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported. “Not a single drop of oil, gas or chemical fertilizer” would pass through the strait without coordination and permission from Iran, Fars reported, citing the IRGC.
Wright accused Iran of “shamelessly” attacking civilian targets “as much as military targets” in neighboring countries.
“We don’t have any reason to believe they will stop that,” Wright said. “We are continuing to shrink their ability to execute those attacks, and we are doing this in coordination and in partnership with all their neighboring countries that they are assaulting.”
Trump Wants Diplomatic Off-Ramp
The Trump administration is still looking for a diplomatic off-ramp, Wright said.
“President Trump wants to end it with a peaceful agreement with Iran, but it takes two parties to do that,” Wright said. “If they’re ready to do that, that’s the way it’ll end. If not, we will continue to ensure the flow of traffic through the Strait without Iran’s cooperation.”
Wright argued that gasoline prices in the U.S. are “$1 a gallon cheaper than they were four years ago” under the Biden Administration. “We’ll do everything we can to drive them further down in the weeks and months ahead,” he said.
The administration will have to make sure the Strait stays open. Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), warned that the global economy could begin feeling the effects of renewed disruption within weeks.
“It is not months, it is weeks” after which the strait needs to be “fully open, unconditionally open,” to spare the global economy from new challenges and slowdown, the IEA’s chief told Bloomberg News on Thursday.
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