U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright pushed back firmly against claims that the Strait of Hormuz has effectively shut down to oil traffic amid ongoing U.S. military operations against Iran.
Wright made his remarks during an appearance on ABC News’ “This Week,” where host Jonathan Karl pressed him on the state of global energy flows through the critical waterway.
The secretary said he receives shipping data “every day” and cited figures showing meaningful volumes of oil continuing to move through the region despite the conflict.
Wright stated a “seven-day trailing average right now” showed “just under seven million barrels a day flowing through the waterway,” alongside an additional “just under seven million barrels a day” through bypass pipelines.
That amounts to roughly 14 million barrels per day from the Arabian Gulf region, which Wright described as “two-thirds of pre-conflict traffic, dramatically up from where we were back in March.”
Wright acknowledged that ship numbers are down but said the U.S. has been “flowing larger tankers now to keep the world markets as well supplied” as possible.
He also argued that “almost all the public data” on the strait is “incorrect,” explaining that two active shipping routes are currently in use, one near Iranian islands and a southern route protected by U.S. military infrastructure.
Karl challenged Wright on earlier statements in which the secretary had predicted the conflict would “certainly come to an end within a few weeks,” a timeline now nearly five months old.
Wright explained that the original plan called for “four to six weeks for military actions,” which he said lasted five and a half weeks, before a pause to attempt a negotiated agreement with Iran, which he said Iran had “proven unwilling” to pursue.
He described the current U.S. posture as having “pivoted” to ensuring “oil and gas and other products can flow through the Strait of Hormuz, with or without Iranian cooperation,” while continuing to degrade Iran’s offensive military capabilities.
On the broader strategic objective, Wright stated that “the president’s mission is essential for peace in the Middle East and peace in the world,” with the stated goal being to “prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapons and to degrade their ability to terrorize their neighbors and the world and global commerce.”
Wright added that “this mission will go on until the mission is done,” offering no specific timeline for when U.S. military operations against Iran would conclude.
On domestic energy prices, Wright claimed that “gasoline prices today are more than one dollar a gallon cheaper than they were four years ago under the Biden administration,” and pledged to “do everything we can to drive them further down in the weeks and months ahead.”
