US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Friday that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz could resume this summer if negotiations with Iran progress.
"Traffic will be flowing through the Straits of Hormuz," Wright said during a CNBC interview, reposted by the Department of Energy.
He added that shipments could resume "sometime this summer or later."
"If Iran continues to hold the world economy hostage, the US military will force the reopening of the Straits of Hormuz," Wright said, while describing diplomacy as the preferred solution.
"There is confusion. There is faction among the regime," Wright said about Iran's leadership, adding that internal divisions could eventually result in regime change.
Referring to disruptions linked to reduced flows through the Strait of Hormuz, Wright said the market had lost about 10 billion cubic feet per day of gas exports for now.
However, he added that the US is still adding about 2.5 Bcf/d of new export capacity this year.
"We're continuing to ramp up US natural gas exports," Wright said. "It'll be a record again this year, with a record last year."
Wright said the US currently exports about 20 Bcf/d of natural gas, roughly double the volumes exported by the next-largest global suppliers.
Wright said the US had sharply reduced the number of drilling rigs needed to expand natural gas production and had shifted from being the world's largest importer to the world's largest exporter.
When asked whether global oil production could rise significantly over the next several years through increased output from countries such as Venezuela and the UAE, Wright said it would.
Wright added that the rising global living standards will continue increasing long-term demand for both oil and natural gas across international energy markets.