A small number of tankers are beginning to move through the Strait of Hormuz, United Refining CEO John Catsimatidis said Wednesday, signaling a tentative restart at the critical oil choke point.
“Right now, the ships are moving. Ten ships are scheduled to be moving in the next few hours,” Catsimatidis, also the CEO of New York City grocery chain Gristedes, told “Varney & Co.,” citing what he said was information from Greek shipping executive Nikolas Tsakos. Fox News Digital has not independently verified the claim.
Under normal conditions, Catsimatidis said, as many as 100 tankers pass through the narrow waterway each day, making the current flow a fraction of typical traffic.
Reports suggest that, despite the ceasefire, many ships remain stalled or are moving cautiously through the Strait amid lingering security concerns.
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Catsimatidis said the limited movement reflects what he described as ships needing to seek permission from authorities before transiting the Strait.
The comments come amid a drop in oil prices as the market reacted Wednesday to a bilateral ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.
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The truce, announced Tuesday, calls for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz — a move seen as critical to stabilizing global oil flows and easing pressure on high energy prices.
Catsimatidis predicted that oil prices could continue to fall if stability holds in the coming weeks.
“The minute we settled something, it went down $20 a barrel and, right now, we’re still in a risk period,” he explained.
“Let’s see what happens in the next two weeks. Once that risk period goes away, it’s going to go down another $20 a barrel. It’ll get closer to the $65 a barrel that we were prewar, and all of that is dependent on the free flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.”
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