United States (U.S.) Central Command has claimed that it has aided commercial vessels loaded with oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, despite Iran declaring the key oil trade route closed for commercial shipping.
In an interview with CNBC, CENTCOM shared the latest figures revealing that it has helped move 660 million barrels of oil in tankers and over 1,300 commercial vessels through the global shipping route since May.
A Central Command Spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins said: “Multiple routes remain free and open for commercial transit.”
On July 29, the military stated that it helped transport over 500 million barrels of oil. This, if put into perspective means, that more than 160 million barrels or more than 7 million barrels per day have been moved through over the course of the last three weeks.
This comes amid the full naval blockade of Iran imposed by U.S. Navy and Iran’s subsequent relation by declaring the Strait of Hormuz closed for shipping.
The numbers might sound impressive but they are still far below the quantity of fuel, 20 million barrels per day, passing through the Strait of Hormuz before military conflict broke out between the U.S. and Israel on one side and Iran on the other.
Earlier, Energy Secretary Chris Wright claimed that the daily crude oil exports through the shipping route has reached 9 million barrels per day, which is far more than the 1.6 million per day average of May, 4 million bpd in June and 5 million bpd in July 2026.
No significant attacks have been reported between the two countries in recent days; however, they continue to exchange heated words and threats.
2026-08-22 19:28:00
