U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced that oil exports from the Persian Gulf have increased to about 15 million barrels per day. This rise is due to U.S. military support and improved pipeline capacity, helping to recover exports affected by the conflict with Iran.
On Tuesday, Wright stated that the weekly average of oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz has reached nearly 9 million barrels per day. Additionally, another 5 to 7 million barrels per day are being transported through pipelines and export facilities that avoid the critical waterway.
"Thanks to the teamwork of the U.S. military and our allies in the Gulf, the seven-day average for oil leaving the Strait of Hormuz is now close to 9 million barrels per day," Wright mentioned.
"When you combine that with the extra 5-7 million barrels per day coming from upgraded pipelines and export facilities, we are currently averaging around 15 million barrels per day in total."
Wright also noted that more than 20 million barrels left the Arabian Gulf region just on Sunday, which he claimed is higher than the average before the conflict began.
These numbers indicate that Gulf producers have significantly restored oil exports, but Wright’s phrasing raises questions about how much traffic has returned specifically to the U.S.-supported Omani route.
Wright clarified that the nearly 9 million barrels per day leaving Hormuz includes total exports, not just the Omani route, compared to the Iranian side of the Strait.
Wright’s assertion that an additional 5 million to 7 million barrels per day are moving through "newly upgraded pipelines and export facilities" is particularly notable. Prior to the war, the International Energy Agency estimated that Saudi Arabia and the UAE had only 3.5 million to 5.5 million barrels per day of capacity available to bypass Hormuz, while warning that increasing volumes had not been thoroughly tested.
Most of that capacity comes from Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, while the UAE can send crude oil directly to Fujairah. Wright’s numbers suggest that these alternative routes are now functioning near or possibly above the upper limits of the IEA’s pre-war estimates.
However, total flows are still below normal levels over the long term. The IEA predicted that 19.87 million barrels per day of oil would flow through Hormuz in 2025. Wright’s current estimate of about 15 million barrels per day from Hormuz and other routes is therefore still roughly 5 million barrels per day short of that target, even though he reported that exports exceeded 20 million barrels on Sunday.
Meanwhile, overall shipping traffic in the Strait is significantly down. The Joint Maritime Information Center reported on Tuesday that Hormuz traffic remains at “reduced levels,” with independent tracking revealing only a few tankers moving in each direction.
Historically, the Strait’s average is around 138 vessel transits per day based on 2025 data. In contrast, JMIC recorded 42 U.S.-facilitated transits from August 9-10, while separate tracking indicated just two transits for non-facilitated cargo vessels on August 9 and three on August 10.
Tanker traffic was even sparser in the non-U.S.-facilitated data, with only one tanker transit each on August 9 and 10. JMIC anticipates that traffic will remain low through both the northern Iranian-controlled route and the southern Omani corridor due to vessel attacks, U.S. blockade enforcement, and heightened regional tensions.
Overall, while significant amounts of Gulf oil are again reaching global markets, it is still uncertain how much of the recovery is due to increased traffic through the Omani route, continued use of the Iranian route, or enhanced pipeline capacity.