Wright Says Gulf Oil Topped 20 Million Barrels as Trackers Counted Only 5 Hormuz Exits
Updated
Updated · CNN · Aug 17
Wright Says Gulf Oil Topped 20 Million Barrels as Trackers Counted Only 5 Hormuz Exits
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Aug 17
Summary
August 8 Gulf oil flows exceeded 20 million barrels, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said, while putting the seven-day average through the Strait of Hormuz at 9 million barrels a day.
Ship trackers Kpler and Windward saw only about five vessels exit Hormuz that day and estimate roughly 4 million barrels a day through the strait, or 11 million to 12 million total including rerouted supplies.
The gap may reflect a surge in shadow traffic as tankers switch off transponders to avoid Iranian and Houthi attacks; Kpler says about half of recent Hormuz traffic has been masked, up from roughly one-eighth a month earlier.
Some analysts now say the administration's figures could prove partly right once ships reappear, a shift that would imply faster stockpile rebuilding, lower-for-longer oil prices and more US leverage with Iran.
Even so, the bigger risk remains depleted inventories—estimated 1.5 billion to 1.9 billion barrels below the start of the war—which leaves the market vulnerable if hidden flows fail to materialize.