US Energy Secretary Claims 9 Million Barrels a Day Now Flow Through Strait of Hormuz, Above Earlier EIA Estimate

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright claimed on social platform X on Tuesday, August 11, 2026 (20 Mordad 1405) that the seven day average of oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz has now reached nearly 9 million barrels a day, and that more than 20 million barrels left the wider Persian Gulf region on Sunday. According to Donya-e-Eqtesad, citing ISNA and Sputnik, the figure is well above the US Energy Information Administration's (EIA) earlier estimate, which put second quarter 2026 flow through the strait at about 4.9 million barrels a day, a 4.4 fold drop from the pre conflict level of 21.6 million barrels a day. In response, Mohsen Rezaei, the new secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, wrote on X the same day that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States ends the war and the blockade, releases Iran's frozen assets, and fighting across the region, including in Lebanon and Gaza, comes to an end.