Vice President JD Vance says U.S. military and commercial efforts have succeeded in moving significant amounts of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz despite intense tensions with Iran. During an appearance on The Clay & Buck Show, Vance argued that the progress is important because Hormuz represents one of Iran’s most powerful sources of economic and geopolitical leverage. “We’ve been able to get a lot of oil and gas out of the Strait of Hormuz,” Vance said, crediting U.S. forces and commercial operators for helping keep energy moving.

Vance acknowledged that more energy needs to be moved, but characterized the effort so far as highly successful given the circumstances. His comments come as shipping through the strategic waterway remains dramatically below normal levels, with Reuters reporting that only seven commodity ships passed through the strait on Thursday and that no large crude carriers or LNG tankers were among those recorded. The reduced traffic underscores why every successful shipment has become strategically important to Washington and global energy markets.

The U.S. effort comes amid reports of military-backed measures designed to protect commercial shipping and keep oil moving despite the danger posed by the conflict. Recent reporting indicates that Washington has established a shipping corridor and helped facilitate tanker movements, while Gulf producers and shippers are also pursuing alternative arrangements outside the most dangerous portions of the waterway. These efforts are intended to reduce the impact of the disruption, although current flows remain well below the levels seen before the crisis.

For the Trump administration, the issue extends far beyond the price of crude oil. Hormuz is a critical global energy chokepoint, and Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping gives Tehran a powerful tool to pressure the United States and its allies. By keeping at least some energy shipments moving, Washington is attempting to prevent Iran from turning that chokepoint into an overwhelming economic weapon while limiting the potential impact on consumers and businesses.

Vance’s remarks therefore highlight a broader strategic contest over who controls the flow of energy through one of the world’s most important maritime corridors. Iran continues to claim influence over traffic through the strait, while the United States is demonstrating that military protection, commercial coordination and alternative shipping arrangements can weaken Tehran’s leverage. The unanswered question is whether those efforts can be sustained at a scale large enough to stabilize global energy supplies if tensions continue or shipping disruptions intensify.