Trump Says “Secret Military Mission” Allowed 200 Ships, 100 Million Barrels To Cross Hormuz

Confirming our reported from both a week ago (see “As Gulf States Plan Bypass Pipelines, US Military Is Quietly Helping Ships Cross Hormuz“) and this afternoon (“Growing Number Of Oil Tankers Successfully Sneak Through Hormuz, Shrinking Iran’s Leverage“) moments ago Trump posted on Truth Social that he had “directed our Great U.S. Military to execute a secret mission to support Oil Tankers and other Commercial Ships through the Strait of Hormuz.” Of course, the mission wasn’t that secret if we discussed how the US military was helping ship cross the Strait one week ago. 

In any case, Trump added that “this effort has resulted in more than 100 MILLION Barrels of Oil making its way through the Strait, and into the Open Market. More than 200 Commercial Ships have safely traveled through the Strait,” which would explain why oil prices have remained low and confirms what Goldman’s Delta One head, Rich Privorotsky, wrote this morning, namely that “a lot has been thrown at the oil market and it’s simply not going up, which is remarkable given the level of escalation. The only conclusion that really fits the price action is that barrels are still getting through the Strait of Hormuz, visibly or otherwise. There doesn’t seem to be a more rational explanation.”

“This wildly successful effort is because the UNITED STATES of AMERICA CONTROLS the Strait of Hormuz — NOT Iran” Trump concluded.

Trump’s post also validates what JPMorgan EM strategy team pointed out a week ago, namely that ship – and crude – transits are far higher than what official trackers have indicated: 

• New higher equilibrium appears to be established in Strait with vessel crossings remaining in the c.25 per day mark for nearly a week, according to JPM EM Strategy methodology. 
• Estimated energy exports continue to be very strong – around 3.6 mbd over the past two days and the 7DMA remaining around 2.5mbd. This has been driven by strong refined chemical tanker transits which have risen to more than 50% of pre-conflict levels. 
• Reports that US are quietly coordinating with shippers to ensure safe transit without explicit escort. 

Here, JPM suggests that Bloomberg’s data is showing muted transits as it can’t keep an accurate read of actual crossings due to AIS transponders being turned off during crossings.

Now the question is whether Iran, whose leverage in the conflict would be viewed as dramatically reduced as a result of this development, will allow stealthy tankers and other ships, with transponders shut, to continue crossing the strait affirming Trump’s implicit claim that the country no longer has control over the strait, or if Tehran will make a public demonstration of how much control it still has.