US Military Runs Nightly Tanker Convoys Past Iran

The U.S. military has been quietly escorting oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz at night, using a southern channel near Oman's coast, U.S. officials told Axios. The operation has run for roughly two months.

Officials say 15 to 20 vessels move through the channel each night in organized inbound and outbound groups, carrying about 10 million barrels of oil per day — roughly half of pre-war levels — past an Iranian blockade.

U.S. Air Force jets protect the ships from Iranian drones and cruise missiles, according to the officials. U.S. Central Command spent two weeks striking Iranian radar and surveillance systems to make the corridor possible.

Why It Matters

The corridor partially offsets a disruption that drove oil prices sharply higher. U.S. gasoline now averages $4.10 a gallon, nearly $1 above year-ago levels.

Saudi Arabia's state oil company has notified at least three European refiners that it will meet its full contracted deliveries next month.

Where the Accounts Split

Independent maritime trackers say they see only about 5 million barrels a day leaving the strait — half the figure U.S. officials gave Axios. That gap raises questions about the true scale of the operation.

Semafor reports that the volume of crude tankers has fallen faster over the past two weeks than at any point during the war, and argues in a separate analysis that Hormuz "isn't really the problem" — other factors are driving the decline.

The left-leaning Daily Kos went further, asking whether the administration is using the press to move oil markets, and noting that commodity experts are skeptical of the numbers. Right-leaning outlets American Greatness and Just the News reported the corridor as a straightforward win, describing millions of barrels slipping past the Iranian blockade and returning to global markets.