Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, told a video briefing on Sept. 19 that the surge in shipments shows “momentum is building” as the primary lanes of the strait remain clear of mines and U.S. warships continue to escort merchant vessels.
According to the admiral, Persian Gulf allies have moved more than one billion barrels of crude through the strait in the last couple of months, and the recent two‑week flow surpasses any level recorded in the previous six months.
The increase comes amid a broader tightening of global oil markets that began this summer, partly driven by drone attacks linked to the Iran‑Saudi conflict that temporarily halted a Saudi‑run pipeline bypassing the strait.
Iran, however, maintains that it has closed the strait and negotiations on agreed shipping routes have stalled, even as the United States and regional partners claim the waterway is safe for commercial traffic.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, faced two early‑morning air‑raid alerts in Riyadh on Sept. 19 – the first such warnings since the height of the U.S.–Iran confrontation in March and April – but civil‑defence officials said the danger cleared quickly.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, speaking on Sept. 13, estimated that the market still depends on roughly 10 million barrels a day of crude and petroleum products moving through the strait, describing current conditions as “tighter than we’d like today, but not overly tight.”
The U.S. and its Gulf allies, together with insurers and shipping firms, say they will continue efforts to boost traffic, arguing that the recent volume spike demonstrates the effectiveness of the protection measures.