U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright (file photo) | Photo Credit: REUTERS/KYLIE COOPER

Crude oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz ​are similar to what they were before the start of the Iran ‌war, as tankers exit the key waterway with ​the help of military escorts, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris ⁠Wright said on Wednesday.

Wright said some 20 million barrels of crude oil exited the strait in the last 24 hours, amounting to around ‌a fifth of world consumption, and similar to levels in recent days following an initial U.S.-Iran agreement to ‌end the conflict.

"I could say roughly 72 ships in ‌the ⁠last 24 hours, and 20 million barrels of oil," ⁠Wright told the Reuters Global Energy Forum in New York. "We have normal flows today."

He added that even if the initial deal reached this month ​to end the conflict did not ‌hold, oil would continue to flow.

"Iran will not have the ability to close the Strait of Hormuz going forward. That's a critical thing, that's their key leverage, and we're ‌taking that leverage away from them," he added, saying that ​Iran's military was depleted.

Benchmark oil prices fell more than $3 on Wednesday to their lowest level since ⁠before the start of the Iran war in February as supply concerns eased with more stranded oil tankers exiting the strait.

Shipments through ‌the narrow waterway bordering Iran had been curtailed for months by the conflict.

Wright said many of the vessels exiting the strait were avoiding the main channel due to fear of mines, and instead passing close to the Iranian coast or along the southern route near Oman, with military escorts. The number ‌of ships is lower than usual, but many are bigger, he said.

He said ​normal navigation could be delayed by the mines.

"To return to complete normalcy takes a demining of ⁠the strait, probably a few weeks' effort," he said.

Wright also said ⁠Venezuela's oil exports, which the United States has administered since U.S. forces captured former leader Nicolas Maduro in January, ‌are rising and could double from current levels to around 2 million barrels per day by the end of President ​Donald Trump's administration in 2029.

Published on June 25, 2026