US energy secretary says 9 million barrels a day now pass through Hormuz

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in Sunday TV interviews that about 9 million barrels of oil a day are getting through the Strait of Hormuz, putting flows including regional pipelines at "two-thirds or more" of pre-war levels, and that the U.S. is "strangling" Iran's economy. AP noted his figure appeared to exceed the 28-day average tracked by TankerTrackers.com and other sources.

Why this matters. The estimate underpins Washington's case that Navy escorts keep oil moving despite Iran's closure claims, but independent tanker tracking puts recent flows lower.