Hormuz, September 23: oil flowing or a strait under pressure?

Bessent tells Fox that 10–17 million barrels a day are passing through Hormuz, with additional oil using other routes. IRINN describes no oil passing, cites three cargo transits on September 22, and emphasizes rising costs for Americans. The reports use different measures and reference periods; their claims are presented together without treating vessel counts and oil volumes as equivalent.

Sep 23

IRINN’s September 23 price update gives Brent at $101.08 a barrel, up $2.53, and U.S. light crude at $92, up $1.48. It reports U.S. gasoline at $4.47 a gallon and California at $6.20, calling the latter a record. Its economic feature airs Fox describing diesel near $7 a gallon and European and U.S. assessments of continuing Hormuz disruption, including an attributed claim that U.S. strategic oil reserves are at their lowest since 1982. Its opening commentary puts Brent around $100 and links fuel costs to restricted shipping. These are the broadcasts’ observations and interpretations, not one shared settlement price or independently established price causation. Fox’s September 23 interview describes crude at roughly $92; the on-screen quote is $92.69, up $0.53. Its graphic gives national average regular gasoline at $4.47 and diesel at $6.52 per gallon. Bessent attributes energy inflation to an Iran-related supply shock, gives core inflation as 2.4%, and predicts lower energy prices after the conflict, citing added supply. Asked about household costs, he defends business activity, private jobs and real wages; his concluding figures are median wage growth of 3.5–3.7% and 1.3 million jobs for Americans. These figures and forecasts are his account. Fox’s panel distinguishes core inflation from the food and energy costs households feel and considers the political pressure of those costs. No price relief or end to the war is reported as having occurred.