US Establishes Secret Oil Shipping Route, Moves Nearly 10 Million Barrels Daily Amid Iran Standoff: Report

The United States has reportedly established a discreet maritime corridor through the Strait of Hormuz to keep crude oil shipments moving despite the ongoing standoff with Iran, according to Axios, which cited two US officials. The US-led operation has reportedly been running for several weeks, with around 15 to 20 oil tankers passing through a southern route near the Omani coast each night. Officials estimate that close to 10 million barrels of oil per day are currently being transported from the Gulf to international markets—roughly half the volume recorded before the conflict.

The operation is not limited to loaded oil tankers. Empty vessels are also being guided from the Arabian Sea through the strait toward Gulf ports, where they take on crude before returning along the same route. According to the officials, the convoy system is coordinated by a US task force based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, working alongside Gulf-region partners. Tankers are arranged into inbound and outbound groups and directed through the designated southern passage under US military supervision.

The officials said the route became more viable after a recent two-week US Central Command campaign reportedly damaged parts of Iran's radar and maritime surveillance network. US Air Force assets are also providing air-defence support to protect commercial vessels from possible Iranian drone and cruise-missile attacks.

Iran's ability to monitor the route has allegedly been reduced to a limited number of repaired radar installations and surveillance from smaller Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vessels, according to the US officials. They claimed Iranian forces have launched missiles toward suspected shipping routes, but US forces have intercepted a number of the incoming threats.

Over the past two weeks, nighttime tanker movements have helped maintain oil exports at around 10 million barrels a day, while volumes have occasionally climbed as high as 15 million to 20 million barrels per day. Although shipments remain below pre-conflict levels, the US-backed corridor has helped reduce the potential economic impact of disruptions at one of the world's most important energy chokepoints.

US President Donald Trump recently told Axios that "a tremendous amount of oil" was still moving through the Strait of Hormuz. He also indicated that Washington was not currently holding active negotiations with Tehran. The existence and detailed workings of the US-managed shipping corridor had not previously been publicly disclosed, Axios reported.

The Strait of Hormuz has remained a major flashpoint since hostilities intensified on February 28, with conflicting claims over whether commercial shipping can safely pass through the waterway. Trump has also previously described the strategically important strait as being under US control. The waterway is crucial to the global energy market. It handles roughly 20% of global oil consumption, around one-quarter of internationally traded oil, and an estimated 11.4 billion cubic feet of LNG each day.

Disclaimer: This image is taken from Reuters.