US Energy Secretary: The Strait of Hormuz Will Reopen by This Summer at the Latest

BlockBeats news, May 17, according to The Hill, U.S. Secretary of Energy Granholm said on Friday local time that the Strait of Hormuz "will be reopened at some point no later than this summer." Granholm stated that the United States "continues to expand U.S. natural gas exports." Although the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has resulted in a daily loss of 10 billion cubic feet of natural gas transport capacity, the U.S. still adds 2.5 billion cubic feet of new natural gas export capacity every day.

"Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz will resume as soon as possible, but at the latest by this summer," Granholm said, adding that a related agreement could be reached "within the next few days" at the earliest. Granholm noted that if Iran "continues to hold the global economy hostage," the U.S. military will "forcefully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but that is not easy to achieve." "We have already taken preliminary steps, but a better approach would be to reach an agreement rather than use military force."