ERBIL () - US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Fox News on Sunday that approximately 13 million barrels of oil are flowing through the Strait of Hormuz daily under American military facilitation, with one day in the past week seeing more than 20 million barrels transit the waterway, surpassing pre-conflict levels, in the most detailed American official accounting yet of energy flows through the world's most contested maritime corridor.
"There was a day just this last week where over 20 million barrels of oil, more than pre-conflict levels, flowed out of the strait,"Wright told Fox News.
The running average today is almost 13 million barrels a day.
Wright confirmed that US forces are actively helping to facilitate the transport of oil, gas, and fertilizers through the Strait of Hormuz, framing the American military presence not only as a blockade enforcement mechanism against Iran but as a positive logistics enabler for global energy trade. The figure of 13 million barrels per day as a running average, with a single-day peak exceeding 20 million barrels, represents a significant partial recovery from the near-total disruption that characterized the conflict's earliest and most intense phase.
Before the war began on February 28, 2026, approximately 20 million barrels of oil transited the Strait of Hormuz each day, representing about one-fifth of the world's oil supply. The running average of 13 million barrels per day cited by Wright represents roughly 65 percent of pre-war flow levels, consistent with the Bloomberg estimate that oil flows through Hormuz have recovered to approximately two-thirds of pre-war volumes, and with the satellite imagery analysis by TankerTrackers.com on September 14 confirming bi-directional daytime VLCC supertanker traffic through the strait for the first time since the war began.
On energy prices, Wright offered a diagnosis that reframes the prevailing narrative about the conflict's economic impact. "The pricing problem today is much more refining capacity than it actually is the flow of oil,"he said, suggesting that the elevated global energy prices and the diesel shortfalls that have pushed US pump prices above $6 a gallon are driven more by constraints in the refining and processing infrastructure than by the volume of crude oil moving through Hormuz. The distinction has significant policy implications, as refining capacity constraints cannot be resolved by reopening Hormuz alone.
Wright also disclosed a striking comparison of American energy production capacity relative to its geopolitical adversaries, saying the United States produces more natural gas than Iran, Russia, and China combined, a figure that underlines America's dominant position in the global energy supply landscape and its reduced vulnerability to Hormuz disruption compared with European and Asian economies.
Wright confirmed that President Trump is determined to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, consistent with Trump's September 11 declaration on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks and his repeated public statements throughout the conflict that Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon under his watch.
Wright's disclosure of 13 million barrels per day flowing through Hormuz and a single-day peak above 20 million stands in direct contrast to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's September 11 statement that Iranian oil exports through Hormuz have reached zero. The two figures are not contradictory. The oil flowing through the strait is non-Iranian crude moving under US military escort, while Iranian oil exports remain blocked by the naval blockade and the Tanker for Tanker enforcement policy.
