Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…

By Newsmax Wires    |   Wednesday, 02 September 2026 08:32 AM EDT

Oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is moving back toward prewar levels, a development that could ease pressure on U.S. fuel prices and inflation despite renewed Iranian military action, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with Newsmax.

“We are getting at least 10 million barrels a day through,” Bessent told Newsmax’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight” on Tuesday. “Yesterday, I think, was a big day. I can’t remember, 15, 17 million barrels.”

Prewar flows were roughly 20 million barrels per day, he said.

The increasing volume demonstrates that Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz despite its military capabilities and the months-long conflict with the United States, he stressed.

The strait connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and is a critical shipping route for oil and liquefied natural gas produced by Gulf nations.

Disruptions to traffic since the start of the Iran war have contributed to higher global energy prices and increased fuel costs for American consumers.

Bessent said restoring the flow of oil is an important part of reversing those temporary price increases.

Getting shipments closer to the roughly 20 million barrels per day that moved through the waterway before the war would help reduce energy-related pressure on the U.S. economy, he said.

But Bessent distinguished those effects from the condition of the broader economy, which he described as strong.

The higher costs associated with disruptions in the Middle East are affecting “a section of our economy,” Bessent said, rather than signaling broader weakness.

He said long-term inflation expectations remain contained and economic growth appears to be accelerating despite higher energy costs.

The recovery in Hormuz traffic comes as the United States pursues a two-pronged strategy against Tehran, combining military pressure with an expanding campaign to isolate the country economically.

Bessent said the United States has imposed what President Donald Trump calls an “iron wall” around Iran, preventing normal shipments through Iranian ports while maintaining international traffic through the strait.

The distinction is central to the administration’s strategy: restricting Iran’s ability to export its own products and obtain foreign supplies while keeping the broader global energy market functioning.

Bessent said the blockade is already contributing to gasoline shortages inside Iran, despite the country’s large oil and natural gas reserves.

Iran must import gasoline because of limitations in its domestic refining capacity, he said, and interruptions to those imports are causing fuel lines.

At the same time, Washington is attempting to reassure global markets that commercial energy supplies from other producers can continue moving through the region.

The Strait of Hormuz is particularly important to Asian economies, including China, which depend heavily on Gulf energy exports.

Bessent said Washington and Beijing share an interest in keeping the waterway open to navigation even as the two countries differ over China’s purchases of Iranian oil.

GET TODAY NEWSMAX+:

NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!

Reuters Institute reports NEWSMAX is one of the top news brands in the U.S.

You need to watch NEWSMAX today.

Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!

Find the NEWSMAX channel on your cable system – Go Here Now

BEST OFFER:

Sign up for NEWSMAX+ and get NEWSMAX, our streaming channel NEWSMAX2 and our military channel World at War.

Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.

Even get Jon Voight’s special series and President Trump’s comedy programs and much more!