More than 17 million barrels of oil transited the Strait of Hormuz by ship on Monday, a record since the Iran war began in late February, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC in an interview Wednesday.
Oil exports from the region on Monday were higher than pre-war levels when Saudi Arabia’s and the United Arab Emirate’s pipelines that bypass Hormuz are included, Wright said. Around 20 million bpd of crude and products passed through the strait before the war started on Feb. 28.
Iran is losing its ability to “hold the world economic hostage” as the U.S. military helps oil tankers sail through Hormuz, Wright said. Tehran is “causing some disruption but they are losing that card,” he said.
The Energy Secretary spoke to CNBC’s Brian Sullivan in Venezuela on Wednesday, five days after President Donald Trump announced a massive oil deal with the interim government in Caracas.
The U.S. government has provided data on oil exports through Hormuz that are higher than those reported by independent ship tracking firms. Wright has said the U.S. military and Department of Energy have the best data as private companies often miss covert transits.
U.S. crude oil was down about 1% Wednesday, though the futures contract hovered around $90 per barrel earlier in the session as Washington and Tehran traded military strikes, breaking a period of relative calm.
The U.S. military has established a shipping corridor along Oman’s coast that tankers from its Gulf allies use to transit Hormuz, often at night with their transponders turned off to reduce the risk of attack.
“With or without Iran, oil and gas will flow out of the Arabian Gulf region and it’s happening,” Wright told CNBC Wednesday.
Iran has repeatedly attacked tankers using that U.S. protected route, demanding commercial ships take a northern corridor through its waters. At least two tankers have come under attack in the strait this week, according to incident reports from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre.
