Do the claims made by the Trump Administration about the amount of crude oil supposedly coming out of the Persian Gulf depend on tainted data? Early Oct. 2, Dropsite News, citing data from the oil analytics firm Kpler, reported on X that oil exports from the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman reached a 7-day average of around 20 million barrels per day, roughly double the early August amount, with Strait of Hormuz transits driving the rebound, according to Kpler data. The 7-day average of regional exports climbed from about 10 to 12 million barrels per day in early August to a peak of roughly 22 million in late September.

The responses to Kpler’s latest reports were mostly negative, asserting that Kpler data cannot be trusted. Why can’t it be trusted? “What a strange coincidence! Kpler’s head of crude oil analysis”—an Iranian by the name of Homayoun Falakshahi—"and its primary tall-tale spinner in relation to Strait of Hormuz oil flows is a die-hard Iranian monarchist,” wrote one Will Schryver.