US Forces Facilitated Transport of Over 1 Billion Barrels of Oil Through Strait of Hormuz: CENTCOM

Vessels transit the Hormuz Strait off the coast of Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Sept. 7, 2026. Atta Kenare/AFP

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Sept. 19 that forces have facilitated the safe transport of more than one billion barrels of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz in recent months.

“We’ve reached this significant milestone while assisting over 2,000 commercial ship transits through the strait by providing coordinated protection,” U.S. Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said on Saturday.

Cooper said that the critical waterway—which was used to transport one-fifth of the world’s oil before the war in Iran started on Feb. 28—is clear of mines.

He said Iran has not been able to export any crude oil due to the U.S. naval blockade.

“Even with this progress, we remain clear-eyed and laser-focused as we work with our teammates in the U.S. interagency, as well as all six partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council, known as the GCC, as well as insurance and shipping companies, to increase the volume of traffic flow through the Strait of Hormuz,” Cooper said.

The volume of crude oil, cargo, and liquid natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz over the past two weeks was “higher than at any point in the past six months,” Cooper said.

Meanwhile, the price of diesel reached a record high on Sept. 19, with the average cost per gallon at $6.48, according to the American Automobile Association.

As of Saturday, the average price for a regular gallon of gas was $4.47, with California at $6.13 per gallon.

When the conflict with Iran first broke out, the average price of a gallon of regular gas was $2.98.

A significant drop in retail gas prices isn’t expected until 2027, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook released on Sept. 9.

“EIA expects constraints on traffic through the strait will continue through the fourth quarter of 2026 (4Q26), leaving an average of 5.7 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil production shut in during the quarter,” the analysis predicted.

The EIA said most Middle East crude oil production will likely return to near pre-conflict averages by the second quarter of 2027.

President Donald Trump said on Sept. 18 that the Iranian regime wants to make a deal to end the conflict with Washington.

“If the deal’s not a correct deal, then I wouldn’t even think about it,” Trump told NewsNation. “But right now, they want to make a deal because they’re losing in every way.”

The president suggested Iran was losing both financially and militarily against the United States.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.

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