Crude oil flows through the
Strait of Hormuz are similar to what they were before the start
of the Iran war, as tankers exit the key waterway with the help
of military escorts, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on
Wednesday.
Wright said some 20 million barrels of crude oil exited the
strait in the last 24 hours, amounting to around a fifth of
world consumption, and similar to levels in recent days
following an initial U.S.-Iran agreement to end the conflict.
“I could say roughly 72 ships in the last 24 hours, and 20
million barrels of oil,” Wright told the Reuters Global Energy
Forum in New York. “We have normal flows today.”
He added that even if the initial deal reached this month to
end the conflict did not hold, oil would continue to flow.
“Iran will not have the ability to close the Strait of
Hormuz going forward. That’s a critical thing, that’s their key
leverage, and we’re taking that leverage away from them,” he
added, saying that Iran’s military was depleted.
Benchmark oil prices fell more than $3 on Wednesday to their lowest level since before the start of the Iran war in February as supply concerns eased with more stranded oil tankers exiting the strait.
Shipments through the narrow waterway bordering Iran had
been curtailed for months by the conflict.
Wright said many of the vessels exiting the strait were
avoiding the main channel due to fear of mines, and instead
passing close to the Iranian coast or along the southern route
near Oman, with military escorts. The number of ships is lower
than usual, but many are bigger, he said.
He said normal navigation could be delayed by the mines.
“To return to complete normalcy takes a demining of the
strait, probably a few weeks’ effort,” he said.
Wright also said Venezuela’s oil exports, which the United
States has administered since U.S. forces captured former leader
Nicolas Maduro in January, are rising and could double from
current levels to around 2 million barrels per day by the end of
President Donald Trump’s administration in 2029.