U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC in an interview Wednesday that more than 17 million barrels of oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz by ship on Monday, a record since the Iran war began in late February.
Wright said oil exports from the region on Monday exceeded pre-war levels, including the Saudi-United Arab Emirates pipeline that bypasses Hormuz. Before the war began on February 28, about 20 million barrels of crude oil and products per day passed through the strait.
Wright said Iran was losing its ability to “hold the global economy hostage” as the U.S. military helped oil tankers sail through Hormuz. The Iranian government is “causing some degree of chaos, but it is losing its cards,” he said.
The energy secretary spoke with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan in Venezuela on Wednesday, five days after President Donald Trump announced a major oil deal with the interim government of Caracas.
The US government provides more data on oil exports via Hormuz than is reported by independent ship tracking companies. Wright said the U.S. military and Department of Energy have the best data because private companies often miss covert shipments.
U.S. oil prices fell about 1% on Wednesday, but a period of relative calm was disrupted by military strikes by Washington and the Iranian government, with futures contracts hovering around $90 a barrel in early trading.
The U.S. military has established a shipping corridor along Oman’s coast that Gulf allied tankers use to pass through Hormuz, but their transponders are often turned off at night to reduce the risk of attack.
“Oil and gas is going to flow out of the Arabian Gulf region with or without Iran, and that’s a reality,” Wright told CNBC on Wednesday.
Iran has repeatedly attacked tankers using the U.S.-protected shipping lane and requires commercial ships to pass through the Northern Corridor of Iranian waters. At least two tankers were attacked in the Channel this week, according to incident reports from the UK Maritime Trade Operations Center.
