How much oil is going through Hormuz? How data doesn’t match US claims

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that the latest dispute between the United States and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz centers on how much shipping is actually moving through the narrow waterway, a critical route for global oil and gas. The article says President Donald Trump and other US officials have claimed that commercial traffic is rising and that American naval support is helping dozens of vessels cross each day, while Iran says the strait remains under its control and is only open to approved traffic.

The piece compares those claims with ship-tracking data from marine analytics firms. Kpler and Lloyd’s List Intelligence both recorded far fewer daily transits than the figures cited by US officials, with recent averages in the low teens rather than dozens. The article notes that some vessels may not appear in standard tracking because they switch off transponders or are counted differently by various monitoring systems.

Al Jazeera also says a regional maritime advisory body recently described traffic through Hormuz as well below normal and warned of continuing security risks, including mines. The broader context is that the strait has become a flashpoint in the six-month US-Iran conflict, with both sides seeking to project control over one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints. The reporting suggests the gap between official statements and shipping data may reflect different counting methods, incomplete tracking, and broader strategic messaging.