CENTCOM: 1B+ oil barrels clear Hormuz
Shafaq News- Washington
More than 1 billion barrels of oil have moved out through the Strait of Hormuz over the past two months with US support, US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Admiral Brad Cooper said on Saturday.
In a video message posted on X, Cooper reported that the main transit lanes in the waterway are clear of mines and that more than 2,000 ships have passed through the maritime gateway.
Update from CENTCOM Commander: pic.twitter.com/PTX6n9fn56
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) September 19, 2026
The volume of oil and gas transported through the Strait over the past two weeks was the highest in six months, he added, claiming that Iran had not exported a single barrel of oil due to the US-imposed tight blockade.
Earlier today, a senior White House official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that oil was flowing through the maritime corridor at between 10 million and 11 million barrels per day (bpd), with Tehran's influence over the waterway declining week by week.
Ship-tracking firm Kpler, however, reported that vessel traffic through the Strait fell to just three ships on Wednesday, down from 12 a day earlier and well below the 10-day average of about 17.
Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world's oil passes, has remained largely closed under Iranian restrictions since Feb. 28, following the joint US-Israeli war on Iran. The corridor briefly reopened after a US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU) took effect on June 18, but closed again amid renewed military escalation, with Tehran maintaining that the waterway remains under Iranian control. US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has described the waterway as "open and operating."
