23 September 2026.

Situation

The Strait of Hormuz remains the focal point of the global energy crisis, with Reuters and BusinessLine reporting that shipping traffic is still running below the strait's 10-day average. IMF PortWatch recorded 1 transit on 2026-09-20, against a pre-crisis baseline of 85 per day. Brent stood at $98.80, down 2.54% over 24 hours, as of 05:51 UTC; finance.biggo.com reports oil has fallen below $100 on Hormuz reopening hopes and a Saudi pipeline restart, and dailycaller.com reports Saudi Arabia has reportedly restarted the pipeline that moved oil around the strait after drone attacks knocked it offline. Whether the strait is open or closed remains physically contested: Iran blames the US for rising fuel prices tied to the closure, per that headline, while the counter-claim, based on separate reporting, holds that Tehran says the strait can reopen within a week if Washington agrees to talks. A senior adviser to Iran's leadership said, per Mehr News, Iranian state media, that the strait will not open under US pressure and will only reopen if Iran's conditions, including lifting the naval blockade, are accepted; treat that as an Iranian state media claim. Diplomatically, CNBC and gCaptain report Tehran has floated formal conditions for reopening and Trump has indicated a deal could come after midterms, while Al Jazeera reports the US and Iran held mediated talks on ending the war and opening the strait at the UN General Assembly. The Shandong Redwoo, previously carried in this feed, is now reported by Hellenic Shipping News to have crossed the strait and is heading for Pakistan with an LNG cargo. In Yemen, The Guardian reports up to 169 people have been killed in three days as Iran-aligned Houthis battle for Red Sea coastal heights, adding pressure to the second chokepoint. An LPG tanker struck by unknown projectiles in the strait, with two crew injured, remains in the feed; no major wire in this feed identifies the attacker. As of 05:49 UTC, 396 AIS-visible vessels were holding position away from berth in the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf watch box, a count that leaves out ships within 25km of a working port. On the Hormuz Index, Crisis Pressure, the state composite, sits in the extreme band, with its value set by physical transit deviation alone; the Escalation Forecast sits in the elevated band, with the Brent-WTI forward spread as its top contributor.

Recorded