U.S. Central Command (Centcom) Admiral Brad Cooper said U.S. forces supported the movement of more than 1 billion crude oil barrels through the Strait of Hormuz in the last couple of months, despite an ongoing exchange of strikes with Iran. He said coordinated protection was provided for more than 2,000 commercial ship transits and that Gulf partners shipped the oil while Iran exported zero barrels under what he called an ironclad blockade. The Strait of Hormuz normally carries around one-fifth of global daily oil consumption, but traffic has broadly declined since the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran at the end of February. Kpler recorded traffic falling from 11 vessels a day to six during one week in August, while Reuters, citing Kpler data, reported that three ships passed through on Wednesday, compared with 12 the previous day and a 10-day average of around 17. Cooper said crude oil, cargo and liquid natural gas volumes during the previous two weeks exceeded any point in the past six months. Iran said Friday that it struck an oil tanker attempting to illegally pass through the strait. The disruption has contributed to higher energy prices, with the U.S. average for regular gasoline rising from $4.31 to $4.43 in four days and diesel increasing 42 cents, according to AAA. The conflict has also pressured the Trump administration and Republicans ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. President Trump called higher gas prices a very inexpensive price to pay for the conflict at a Wednesday rally in North Carolina and told Axios the next day that he faced a major decision over whether to annihilate the Iranian regime. A New York Times/Siena University poll released this week found that 62% of respondents disapproved of Trump’s handling of the economy.