WASHINGTON: The Trump administration said that oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had recovered to about two-thirds of its pre-war level, even as a former NATO commander warned that Iran could widen the conflict by threatening the Suez Canal.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright rejected suggestions that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had effectively stopped amid renewed US strikes and Iranian attacks.
“The seven-day trailing average right now is just under seven million barrels a day flowing through the waterway and just under seven million barrels a day additional flow through the bypass pipelines,” Wright told ABC News’ “This Week”.
“So, we’re at a little under 14 million barrels a day from the Arabian Gulf region,” he said. “That’s two-thirds of pre-conflict traffic, dramatically up from where we were back in March.”
Wright acknowledged that traffic had not returned to normal. But he said publicly available figures did not reflect all the oil moving through the region.
“The ship numbers are down more dramatically,” he said. “But, of course, we’re flowing larger tankers now to keep the world markets as well supplied as we can.”
The comments came after two US service members were killed in an Iranian attack on an American base in Jordan. Another service member remained missing. US forces responded with fresh strikes against Iran.
Wright said Washington would continue protecting traffic through the Strait, with or without Tehran’s cooperation.
President Donald Trump was “always looking for the diplomatic off ramp”, Wright said. “If not, we will continue to assure flow of traffic through the Strait without Iran’s cooperation.”
Democratic Senator Mark Warner challenged the administration’s assessment. He said petrol in Virginia had risen from $2.81 a gallon before the war to about $4, while diesel had reached $5.
“I see no path in the short term how the Strait is going to be settled,” Warner said. “This war of choice has been a disaster.”
The risks may extend beyond Hormuz. Retired Admiral James Stavridis, a former NATO supreme allied commander, warned that Iran could use the Houthis to threaten the Suez Canal.
“The Iranians are beginning to make noises about attempting to close that, using the Houthis in the southwest corner,” Stavridis told CNN’s “State of the Union”.
“So watch the Suez Canal as a way the Iranians could make another move,” he said. Stavridis suggested the recent attacks in Jordan could be connected to its position near the northern end of the Red Sea.
--IANS
