Admiral Brad Cooper of US Central Command said in a 19 September video, carried by The Straits Times, that Hormuz traffic in crude, cargo and LNG over the latest fortnight sat above every mark in the prior half year. He tied that to minesweeping and naval escort. Independent tanker trackers were not in the same report. Energy Secretary Chris Wright had earlier sketched daily Hormuz traffic near ten million barrels of crude plus oil products.
In a 19 September video quoted by The Straits Times from Riyadh, Admiral Brad Cooper said volumes of crude, cargo and liquefied natural gas over the latest fortnight sat above every mark from the prior half year. He presented that as evidence that escort and mine-clearance work was starting to show. The newspaper did not attach a Kpler, Vortexa or similar count to the same claim, and the desk does not treat Cooper's figure as independently checked.[1]
Cooper said primary Hormuz lanes were mine-free, and that Gulf allies moved over a billion barrels of crude across recent months. He said Iran exported zero barrels under the blockade. Those are his statements as printed; they are not a second government's ledger in this card. Gulf and Iran here are Cooper's terms as the desk already filed them.[1]
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on 13 September that Hormuz transit sat at about 10 million barrels daily of crude plus products, calling oil markets tighter than he would like but not overly tight. The Straits Times pool copy does not itself name Riyadh alerts; this paragraph stays with Wright's sketch and Cooper's volume claim already on the card.[1]
