Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC that more than 17 million barrels of oil transited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, a wartime record against a prewar baseline of around 20 million barrels a day. [1] The same morning, OilPrice printed Kpler's preliminary count: four commodity vessels on Tuesday, against 10 on Monday and a 10-day average of around 13. [2] Wright's 17 million is Monday, before Tuesday's strikes. Do not treat it as a restored strait.
Tuesday's oil file priced a jump on named-hull hits and said tape is not traffic. The kinetic sequel is what the tape is pricing again. Sidr and Senegal Prosperity remain the named VLCCs. Do not convert Sidr into mines. A companion World file owns the tanker-for-tanker disclosure. This file owns the split.
President Donald Trump asked on Truth Social whether to rename the waterway the "Trump Strait." "Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT???" he wrote. [1] Asked at the White House whether he meant it, he said, "No, no ... it was just thrown out there." [1] The administration asserts that regional oil exports are now higher than before the war if Saudi and UAE bypass pipelines are counted. [1] Pipelines are not the strait. A rename post is not a cargo.
Axios told a different Tuesday story: a U.S. official said around 40 ships transited in and out, none hit. [3] Kpler's four commodity vessels are the tracker print. [2] Print both. Do not average. NPR put Brent around $95 since fighting resumed, up more than 30 percent from the start of the war. [4] Live dashboards will move before this edition closes. The fetched Wednesday record is Wright's Monday volume against Tuesday's four hulls, not a brittle tick. Iran added 11 ships to a blacklist that now totals 56 vessels, Guardian reported. [6] A blacklist is a threat ledger. It is not traffic either.
The IRGC said two tankers hit mines on a U.S.-guided "illegal route." [5] CNBC reported the claim as vessels disabled and crews forced to disembark after ignoring warnings. [5] That is color here, not the Sidr file. CENTCOM's cited mine-denial status was not shipped. Separate claims stay separate.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business the strait will become a "worthless piece of water" in two years, arguing oil will flow across land pipelines instead. [5] Bypass pipes can move barrels. They do not make Tuesday's four hulls into Wright's Monday 17 million. Trump told Oval reporters the United States has "very strong control" of the strait and is "bringing lots of boats out everyday with millions of barrels of oil." [6] "Every once in a while they shoot a drone and we knock it down," he said. [6] Control talk is a sentence. Four commodity vessels is a count. Owners still decide voyage by voyage. Monday's 17 million barrels moved before the noon wave. Tuesday's four hulls are the physical counter. Tape is not traffic.
-- HENDRIK VAN DER BERG, Brussels