Ship traffic through the vital strait of Hormuz should begin moving again soon, US energy secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday, providing relief to surging crude prices.
"We're not too long away, I think, before you'll see more regular resumption of ship traffic through the strait of Hormuz," Wright said in a broadcast interview with CNN. While it will take some time for normal traffic to resume "... worst case that's a few weeks, that's not months".
Wright said that "one large tanker" had recently passed through the strait without issue, but did not name the vessel. The Torm Hermia, a 114,951 dwt LR2 owned by Torm, safely transited eastbound in ballast on 7 March, according to ship tracking data. The ship, which most recently carried low-sulfur condensate, on 26 February was reported to be under contract to travel to the UK via the Cape of Good Hope. After passing through the strait the ship travelled eastward across the Arabian Sea, signalling it was open for orders, according to Vortexa.
The US has promised to alleviate the shipping bottleneck that developed since the war with Iran started 28 February, sending crude benchmarks above $90/bl last week and early trading already above $107/bl. This includes promises of military escort and US-backed vessel insurance.
But so far there is little sign of immediate improvements. Kuwait's state-owned oil firm KPC said over the weekend it has started to reduce crude output and refinery runs because of the lack of movement.
Two bulk carriers managed to pass through the strait in recent days by signalling they were Chinese-owned to reduce the risk of attack. Torm Hermia is not using that type of signal according to Vortexa and Kpler.
Before the war about 138 vessels would pass through the strait of Hormuz daily, according to global maritime security partnership Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC). About 50 tankers made the run on 28 February, the first day of fighting, and since then traffic has been sporadic to non-existent. According to the JMIC no tankers passed on 7 March.
Also on Sunday French president Emmanuel Macron said that in a call with Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian he demanded Iran end the de facto closure of the strait and to stop launching attacks on neighboring countries.
In a social media posting Macron said he "reiterated our grave concern regarding the development of Iran's nuclear and ballistic programs and the entirety of its destabilizing activities in the region, which lie at the root of the current crisis."
"A diplomatic solution is more necessary than ever to address these crucial challenges, put an end to the escalation, and preserve peace," Macron said.
Despite Israeli strikes on fuel depots in Tehran over the weekend, Wright told CNN that the US had no plans to target Iran's oil industry. "The US is targeting zero energy infrastructure," he said.
