US forces have helped Gulf partners export more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz since the summer, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday.
More than 3,000 commercial vessels have transited the strait with support from CENTCOM forces over the past six months, the command said in a statement issued after its commander, Admiral Brad Cooper, flew over the waterway in a US Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter.
The figure compares with more than 1.3 billion barrels that Cooper cited in a video update released on October 16, when he said US forces had helped Gulf partners ship more than 100 million barrels through the strait in the previous week.
“Today, primary transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz remain free and clear of Iranian sea mines thanks to incredible efforts by our people,” Cooper said.
CENTCOM said US forces had cleared the strait’s international shipping lanes of sea mines laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It said more than 95% of ships navigating the strait in recent months had sailed through safely.
During the visit, Cooper met US service members who supported the mine clearance mission, the command said.
“We remain intensely focused on keeping commercial traffic flowing as we work with our teammates in the U.S. interagency, Gulf Cooperation Council, and shipping industry,” he said.
Shipping through the strait has been disrupted since the United States and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, Al Jazeera reported. About a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas passed through the waterway before the war.
