US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said more than 17 million barrels of oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, hitting a record high since the war with Iran began in late February. Wright made the statement in an interview with CNBC and later confirmed the total with reporters while traveling to Venezuela Tuesday evening, saying all 17 million barrels passed through via boat.

According to Wright, when accounting for additional pipeline capacity for transporting petroleum around the strait — another 4-5 million barrels, based on Department of Energy estimates — the total amount of oil leaving the Gulf region was above prewar levels. Before the conflict began, roughly 20 million barrels a day of oil and oil products transited through the crucial waterway, equivalent to about 20% of global demand.

Wright noted that the increase in supply volumes demonstrates a recovery of oil flows from the region following a sharp drop caused by the outbreak of hostilities. He also said that with pipeline shipments from Saudi Arabia and the UAE that make it possible to bypass the Strait of Hormuz taken into account, oil exports from the region exceeded pre-war levels on Monday.

If accurate, Monday's estimates mark a significant win for the United States, which has attempted to facilitate the transit of oil without reaching a long-term ceasefire deal with Iran. The Trump administration has touted its efforts to move oil through the strait in recent weeks, with Wright estimating in early August that the seven-day average for oil passing through the strait was nearly 9 million barrels per day. At the time, market analysts cast doubt on that estimate, projecting that the actual number was closer to 4 million to 6 million barrels a day. Administration officials have defended their estimates, pointing out that market projections are often undercounted due to the number of ships that turn off their transponders to evade attacks from Iran.