Discrepancy in Oil Exports from Strait of Hormuz Raises Questions

The US Energy Secretary Chris Wright claims that almost nine million barrels per day of crude oil is leaving the Strait of Hormuz, but tracking services say this number is at best half of what he claims.

This matters because it's this oil that goes to Asia, which has been hardest hit by the fallout since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.

Kpler data shows crude exports via the Strait of Hormuz for the week beginning July 27 at 2.77 million bpd, dropping to 1.74 million bpd for the week starting August 3, with even the best week since the conflict started seeing only 6.98 million bpd leave in the seven days starting June 29.

The discrepancy between Wright's numbers and the tracking data is significant, with a gap of between 3 million and 5 million bpd between what they can see and what Wright says is being shipped from the Middle East.