President Donald Trump says the United States is making progress in reopening the Strait of Hormuz and escorting more oil through the waterway, yet oil prices have jumped in recent days. The recent attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and Saudi energy infrastructure have also pushed crude prices up, with Brent crude rising $3.21 to $107.82 a barrel. The apparent contradiction between US claims and surging oil prices shows the reality on the ground is complicated at best.
So, what do we know about shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, and where are oil prices headed? Washington says traffic through Hormuz has been improving despite the two sides being in a diplomatic deadlock. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Sunday said 10 million barrels of oil per day, on average over the past week, were passing through Hormuz, adding that “we’re back to two-thirds or north of two-thirds of the previous flows.
President Trump has made similar claims, stating that the US is in “total control” of the strait and asserting that its forces are escorting ships carrying millions of barrels of oil through the waterway, through which a fifth of global oil and gas passes. Iran has, however, disputed the US claims. Tehran says it controls access to Hormuz and has warned ships against using routes it has not authorised.
Last week, Iran announced a new restricted shipping zone around the crucial waterway. Shipping data from tanker trackers also suggests traffic remains well below normal levels. Preliminary ship-tracking data shows vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz falling to single digits a day over the weekend, remaining well below the 10-day average of 14 a day, the news agency reported. said a total of 14 vessels transited the waterway, with four exiting the Gulf and 10 entering it.
More than 100 vessels passed through the strait daily, carrying an estimated 20 million barrels of oil, before the US and Israel launched the war on Iran in February. The data is preliminary and subject to updates, as some vessels navigate the passage with their Automatic Identification System transponders switched off, meaning they are excluded from the official counts, added. Oil prices jumped more than 3 percent on Monday after an Iranian ship was attacked on Sunday in the Strait of Hormuz and Saudi Arabia’s critical East-West oil pipeline was damaged in a drone attack.
Brent crude rose $3.21 to $107.82 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate gained $3.17 to $103.22. The rise came after Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline was temporarily shut by a drone attack originating from Iraq, according to Saudi officials. Riyadh has been using the pipeline to export oil via the Red Sea amid the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
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