Data compiled by commodity analysts Kpler indicates Asia is expected to import 23.12 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil this month, slightly down from 23.36 million bpd in July. This contradicts claims by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright in mid-August that Middle East oil exports had rebounded to 15 million bpd, sometimes exceeding pre-war levels of 20 million bpd. Ship-tracking data at the time showed flows out of the Strait of Hormuz were, at best, half the volume cited by Wright. Asia's crude oil imports from the Middle East remain over 4 million bpd lower compared to the average of 15.82 million bpd in the three months before the Iran war started.