U.S. conducting stealth operation to transport oil through Hormuz

The U.S. military has quietly established a shipping corridor in and out of the Strait of Hormuz to transport millions of barrels of oil each day — a notable success even as the broader war remains at a stalemate, two U.S. officials told Axios.

Under the operation, which has been underway for the last several weeks, 15 to 20 tankers have entered and exited the strait through a southern channel along the coast of Oman.

About 10 million barrels of oil a day — roughly half the pre-war volume — are being transported out of the strait and injected into the global energy market, the officials said.

Why it matters: The U.S.-led operation is mitigating one of the most painful aspects of the war: the disruption to oil supplies that sent crude prices soaring.

While the amount of oil coming out of the strait is still below pre-war levels, it is making a discernible difference in global supplies, officials say.

How it works: The effort goes beyond escorting outbound tankers with oil on board.

The U.S. military is helping empty tankers enter the Gulf from the Arabian Sea through the strait, pick up oil from UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait, and then exit.

The full details of the operation have not been previously reported.

"We have been controlling the southern lane of the Strait of Hormuz for two months now.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps can be a nuisance, but they don't control the strait.

We do," one of the U.S. officials, who has direct knowledge of the matter, said.

Behind the scenes: The task force overseeing the Hormuz effort is being run out of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division headquarters in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The task force is coordinating with regional Gulf partners.

It creates a daily list of ships coming out of the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz and into the Arabian Sea, as well as a list of rented empty tankers that travel from the Arabian Sea, through the strait and into the ports of Gulf countries to pick up more oil.