The US military has secretly established a shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz along a southern route near Oman's coast, allowing the daily passage of 15 to 20 oil tankers, officials said yesterday[2026-08-19]. [1, 2, 3, 4] This corridor enables the transport of approximately 10 million barrels of oil each day, roughly half the pre-war volume passing through the strategic waterway [1, 2, 3, 5, 4]. Some nights recently, volumes surged between 15 million and 20 million barrels. [1, 2, 4, 6]
US forces have controlled the southern lane of the Strait for around two months. An anonymous official said, "We have been controlling the southern lane of the Strait of Hormuz for two months now. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps can be a nuisance, but they don't control the strait. We do." [4]
The corridor's safe passage became possible after a two-week military campaign by US Central Command to degrade Iranian radar and maritime surveillance systems along the southern route, reducing Iran's monitoring largely to a few radars and Revolutionary Guard boat observers. [1, 2, 7, 8, 5, 4] US military personnel organize inbound and outbound tanker convoys nightly. They assign checkpoints and provide escort using Air Force fighter jets to defend against Iranian drones and cruise missiles. Recently, US forces intercepted 8 Iranian drones and 2 cruise missiles targeting shipping [1, 2, 7, 8, 5, 4, 6].
US troops also guide empty tankers transiting from the Arabian Sea through the strait to Gulf ports including the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait for oil loading. [1, 2, 7, 8, 3, 9, 10, 5, 4, 11, 6] Around 80% of tankers passing through the Strait recently use the southern Oman route under US protection despite Iranian objections and attacks [11, 6].
President Donald Trump confirmed to Axios that large quantities of oil are moving through the Strait via the corridor. He said, "There is a tremendous amount of oil coming out of the Strait of Hormuz. We are not negotiating with Iran at the moment. They are wasting their time. Talking to them is a waste of time." [2, 3, 4] Trump also described Iran as "a hollow shell," acknowledging some remaining fighting capability but diminished overall strength. [2, 3, 9, 6]
The secret operation has helped alleviate disruptions to oil supply caused by the regional conflict and reduced pressure on global oil prices. [2, 3, 9, 5, 4, 6]
US military officials plan to maintain control over the corridor and continue nightly convoy operations to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
