US forces helped Gulf partners ship more than 100 million barrels of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz over the past week, the commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), Admiral Brad Cooper, said.
About 400 merchant ships sailed through the strait over the same period, Cooper said in a video update released on Friday, October 16. He said the latest shipments added to more than 1.3 billion barrels of crude that US forces have helped regional allies move through the waterway in recent months.
“The Strait of Hormuz is controlled by the United States and our regional partners, not Iran, and it remains open for business,” Cooper said, according to a transcript carried by the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
He said the US naval blockade had so far prevented Iran from exporting at least $25 billion worth of crude oil. CENTCOM also said it had supported the freezing of about $350 million in Iranian cryptocurrency assets.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said on Saturday that two oil tankers caught fire after hitting naval mines while crossing the strait, Reuters reported, citing the official Iranian news agency IRNA. There was no independent confirmation of the claim.
The IRGC said both tankers were carrying about 2 million barrels of crude and had switched off their positioning and radar systems to use a route Iran had not authorized. It said the second vessel was immobilized. Neither tanker was named.
Cooper said US forces had been clearing the strait of Iranian sea mines. CENTCOM has said vessels in the strait are being struck by projectiles, not mines.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) recorded 125 outbound and 129 inbound transits in its weekly overview dated October 16. Oil flows through Hormuz averaged 11.6 million barrels per day in the seven days to October 13, about 68% of the 17.1 million bpd prewar level, according to Kpler data.
Separately, UKMTO said the master of an LNG tanker reported being fired on by a skiff carrying seven people about 140 nautical miles southeast of Al Mukalla, Yemen, at 1030 GMT on Saturday. The tanker’s armed security team fired two warning shots and the skiff changed course, the UKMTO warning said.
