(Bloomberg) — The US said no oil tanker has been escorted by its navy through the Strait of Hormuz, refuting an earlier, since-deleted social media post by Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
“I know the post was taken down pretty quickly, and I can confirm that the US Navy has not escorted a tanker or a vessel at this time, though, of course, that’s an option the president has said he will absolutely utilize if and when necessary,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday.
Global oil prices extended declines after the brief appearance of Wright’s post on X and accompanying video, and then erased some of that move after the post disappeared without explanation roughly 15 minutes later. Energy Department representatives didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The confusion over whether an escorted tanker had in fact transited the key waterway came amid an intense and volatile moment for the oil market. Prices surged Monday on anxiety about the lack of exports through the Strait of Hormuz, only to decline sharply on Tuesday after President Donald Trump said the war in Iran would be resolved soon, and as he weighed options to ease the supply of crude, including the release of emergency stockpiles.
According to the since-deleted post: “The U.S. Navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets.”
The post included a video showing Wright at a recent event saying that “a large oil tanker went through about 36 hours ago. I think you will see more of those coming.”
Almost all commercial trade through Hormuz halted after the Iran war began, with owners concerned about security. That stopped tankers from exiting the gulf, filling storage and causing producers to cut output sharply.
With Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates all pumping millions of barrels less oil each day, the need to resume normal traffic through the water way is pressing. Some tanker owners previously said that they would navigate again if a convoy program were available.
(Updates with White House spokeswoman’s comments in second paragraph.)
