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Fact check: How much oil does US import via Strait of Hormuz? Trump's ‘almost no oil’ claim debunked
EIA data shows US imports 0.5 million barrels of crude oil per day via Strait of Hormuz: 7% of crude imports, contradicting Trump’s claim of ‘almost no oil.’
In an attempt to seemingly downplay the impact of the Strait of Hormuz embargo on rising gas prices in the US, Trump claimed in his Wednesday address to the nation that the US imports "almost no oil" via the Strait.
Trump's claim sparked a row as the Strait of Hormuz has been a major point of contention with Trump seeking help from NATO allies to secure the Strait and subsequently threatening to leave the alliance amid their refusal over escalation concerns.
But in his speech Wednesday, the 79-year-old took a complete U-turn and downplayed the importance of the Strait of Hormuz to US oil imports. "The United States imports almost no oil through the Hormuz Strait and won't be taking any in the future," Trump proclaimed.
Also read: Trump says Iran was ‘at the doorstep’ of a nuclear weapon, defends strikes on nuclear sites
How Much Oil Does US Import Via Hormuz?
The data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) show that Trump is wrong. The US imports a significant amount of crude oil from Persian Gulf countries via the Strait of Hormuz.
The EIA's 2024 data, the latest available, shows that the US imported at least 0.5 million barrels of crude oil per day. Post 2024, only the 2025 Q1 data is available on US crude imports via Strait of Hormuz. It shows that the import via the Strait decreased slightly to 400,000 barrels per day.
In fact, the import of crude via the Strait if Hormuz has significantly gone down since 2022. In 2022, the US imported 700,000 barrels of crude via the Strait, while in 2023 the number was same as 2024, at 0.5 million barrels per day, according to the EIA.
Contrary to Trump's claim, 0.5 million barrels per day amounts to 7% of the US's total annual crude oil imports and 2% of total petroleum liquid imports.
Also read: Donald Trump sounds final warning over war, Iran launches missiles shortly after
Trump's Speech Spikes Oil Prices
Trump, crucially, skipped any mention of the deadline he set on Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He had issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Iran on March 22, pressuring them to open the Strait of Hormuz. But since the expiry of the deadline, Trump has avoided any mention of the same, a trend that continued into the much-anticipated prime-time speech.
With no clear indication of when the Strait of Hormuz might open, oil prices soared sharply immediately after Trump's speech. Brent crude jumped 5% to $106.22 per barrel while Benchmark US crude rose 4.2% to $104.36 a barrel after Trump finished his address.
