Axios claims 40 tankers passed through southern Strait of Hormuz channel

Axios, citing three U.S. officials, reported that about 40 tankers moved through the deep-water southern channel of the Strait of Hormuz on Friday night, a figure the officials said indicates a sharp increase in traffic through the sensitive waterway.

According to the officials, about 16 million barrels of oil passed through the route in that single night. If accurate, that volume of tanker traffic would be more than twice the level U.S. officials had cited in recent weeks.

U.S. officials had previously claimed that 15 to 20 tankers a day were passing through the route as part of Washington-backed efforts to keep oil moving. This comes as the ongoing war and disruption to regional shipping have cast a shadow over vessel traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

Earlier this month, Axios also reported on a covert U.S. military operation to move oil through the Strait of Hormuz via a southern channel along the coast of Oman, a route the outlet said largely avoids Iranian waters.

Two U.S. officials had previously claimed that the operation, which has continued for several weeks, is moving about 10 million barrels of oil a day. However, that is still about half the volume of oil shipments before the war began.

U.S. Central Command separately said its forces have helped the passage of about 1,300 commercial vessels and more than 660 million barrels of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz since early May. A spokesperson for the command said several routes in the strait remain open for “free and open commercial transit.”

Despite these claims, the level of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz is still described as lower than before the war, when about 20 million barrels of oil passed through the waterway each day. The Strait of Hormuz lies between Iran and Oman and is one of the world’s most important energy transit routes.