Washington, August 14: U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated that between 8 to 9 million barrels of oil pass through the Hormuz Strait daily. He refuted claims suggesting a significant decline in traffic due to tensions with Iran.
In an interview with Fox News, Wright explained that commercial tracking services fail to provide a complete picture, as many vessels are operating with their transponders turned off and under military protection. “We know exactly how many ships transit the Hormuz Strait every day. We also know what they are carrying,” he said during his conversation with Bret Baier.
Wright mentioned that U.S. officials are coordinating directly with ships and receiving daily reports on traffic through northern and southern routes.
The commercial tracking company, Kepler, estimated that over 100 ships crossed the Hormuz Strait daily before the conflict. Baier noted that the company reported the same number of ships passing on both Monday and Tuesday. Wright dismissed these figures as incomplete.
“Almost all of these ships have their AIS (Automatic Identification System) and transponders turned off. Therefore, they are operating in the dark and under security,” he added.
Wright confirmed that an average of 8 to 9 million barrels of oil transit through Hormuz daily, in addition to 6 million barrels transported via pipelines. “Overall, about 14 to 15 million barrels of oil are leaving the Arabian Gulf region each day, down from 20 million barrels before the conflict,” he stated.
This indicates a daily supply reduction of approximately 5 to 6 million barrels through the Hormuz Strait. However, the U.S. Energy Secretary noted that this decrease is not as significant as commonly perceived.
Baier also questioned Wright about President Donald Trump’s assertion that the U.S. has complete control over the Strait. In response, Wright acknowledged that “Iran continues to create challenges for neighboring countries and the global economy.”
He argued that as U.S. security operations expand, Iran’s ability to disrupt shipping is diminishing. “They have only one option left, and its scope is shrinking,” he said.
Wright also acknowledged that gasoline prices in the U.S. remain around $4 per gallon. He expressed the administration’s goal to bring prices down to around $3, although he did not provide a timeline. “We will certainly get there. The question is just time,” he stated.
He added that there is currently more pressure on refining compared to crude oil supply. He cited Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries as a contributing factor to the global supply shortage of refined petroleum products and rising prices.
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