Oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz has returned to — and sometimes exceeds — pre-war levels despite lower total traffic after the US-Iran memorandum of understanding pushed Tehran to reopen the waterway, Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday.
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“The strait is open in the sense that we’re seeing more oil come out of the strait — and some days even more oil than came out before the war even started,” Vance told The Michael Knowles Show.
Still, he acknowledged that total traffic remains a fraction of the pre-war daily average of between 130 and 150 ship passages.
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About 240 ships total transited the strait last week, according to Lloyd’s List data.
“…What the cynics will say is, ‘well, if you look at the number of ships that are trafficking, that’s actually down from the pre-war start,’ but they’re mostly talking about cargo ships and other vessels.”
“At least so far, what we’ve seen is the oil traffic has reached its pre-war height,” he added.