CENTCOM Says It Supported Exports of 1.5 Billion Barrels of Crude Through the Gulf Since Summer
Key Facts
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on October 25 that it had helped Gulf partners export more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude since summer, pointing to the scale of the role Washington says it played in keeping energy flows available amid regional disruption. The command said its forces supported the passage of more than 3,000 commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz over the past six months. It added that more than 95% of vessels transiting the strait had passed safely in recent months. CENTCOM released the figures as its commander, Adm. Brad Cooper, visited the strait. The announcement reflects the continued reliance of shipping on security and military arrangements in the waterway, alongside signs of a recovery in regional exports.
During the visit, Cooper said U.S. forces had removed naval mines laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from international shipping lanes. He said, "The main transit lanes through the Strait of Hormuz remain clear of Iranian naval mines." The assurance applies to the main lanes, as the command described them, and does not extend to all waterways in the region. In its announcement, CENTCOM described vessel transits as supported by its forces and said the vessels passed safely; this is the command’s security-focused characterization of the results it reported. On October 25, Cooper flew over the strait aboard a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter, during a visit that highlighted Washington’s monitoring of maritime traffic.
Flow data indicate that exports recovered to pre-war levels in September, excluding Iran. Al Jazeera cited Kpler as saying at least 16.5 million barrels per day left the region during the month, equivalent to the pre-war average. Analysts cited by Al Jazeera attributed the recovery to a combination of ship-to-ship oil transfers off the coast, U.S. military escorts and increased use of pipelines. Cooper had said on September 20 that U.S. forces supported the passage of more than one billion barrels of crude over the previous two months and more than 2,000 commercial vessels. That places October’s announcement of 1.5 billion barrels and 3,000 vessels within an upward trend in figures the command has reported recently.
But the recovery in flows has not ended pressure on crude prices. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said the September average spot price for Brent was 114 dollars per barrel, up 23 dollars from August. Its estimates also showed that regional crude production outages fell to 4.8 million barrels per day in September, compared with 5.8 million in August and a peak of 10.9 million in May. The agency said attacks on Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline temporarily halted flows; before the attacks, the line carried more than 5 million barrels per day to the port of Yanbu. The figures show improving production and flows coinciding with continued infrastructure disruptions and renewed risks to export routes.
At sea, tankers continue to transit the strait at night along a corridor near Oman’s coast protected by U.S. forces, with their positioning systems and phones switched off, the Associated Press reported, citing Lloyd’s List Intelligence. The agency said the tankers later transfer the crude to other vessels waiting in the Gulf of Oman to ship it to buyers in Asia. Despite these measures, Lloyd’s recorded 28 attacks on vessels in October, according to AP, the highest number since the war began, while Gulf operators continued their activity. AP quoted Aramco President Amin Nasser as saying the East-West pipeline’s capacity had risen from two million barrels to 7 million barrels per day. The pipeline’s expansion provides an additional route for crude exports, while maritime traffic remains exposed to attacks and operational risks.
The risks were reflected in oil trading on October 23, when Brent crude rose 3.55 dollars, or 3.14%, to 116.72 dollars per barrel, its highest settlement since April 29. Reuters said Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia had raised supply concerns, while disrupted cargoes, longer voyages and inefficiencies remained among the factors linked to transport costs reaching record levels. The sources did not attribute the rise in those costs to any single factor. For the energy market, the contrast between exports recovering to the pre-war average and prices remaining high reflects the market’s sensitivity to any disruption to shipping or export pipelines. Maritime risks remain part of the picture even as the use of military escorts and pipelines increases.
The Energy Information Administration raised its forecast for the average spot price of Brent in the fourth quarter of 2026 to 105 dollars per barrel, 14 dollars higher than its forecast the previous month. It said it expects most regional production to return to the pre-conflict average by the end of the second quarter of 2027, with Brent averaging 87 dollars per barrel in that quarter. These estimates link the price outlook to a recovery in production, while security developments and export flows remain among the main factors shaping the current picture. This follows the agency’s estimate that production outages had already declined between May and September, with some supply still shut in. The Energy Information Administration’s official public schedule did not list a weekly release on October 28, contrary to what the previous draft said.