Overview
- Senior US officials say naval escort operations are moving about seven million barrels of oil a day through the Strait of Hormuz, roughly half of pre-conflict volumes.
- Officials report as many as 20 commercial vessels are being escorted each night to and from the Gulf under the US operation.
- President Donald Trump has claimed the US secretly escorted more than 200 commercial ships and that 100 million barrels escaped Iran’s tighter controls, a figure presented by the White House but not independently verified in the reporting.
- Houston industry executives, including Chevron’s chief executive, express skepticism about the US flow estimates and place lower figures on the amount of crude actually reaching markets.
- Global prices have cooled as Western nations released about 400 million barrels from emergency reserves and China sharply cut imports, but Iran’s checkpoints, recent maritime incidents and ongoing negotiations keep trade fragile and insurance costs high.