PANews reported on May 17th, citing The Hill, that U.S. Energy Secretary Frank Wright stated on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen "at the latest sometime this summer." Wright stated that the U.S. "continues to expand U.S. natural gas exports," adding 2.5 billion cubic feet of daily natural gas export capacity despite the loss of 10 billion cubic feet of natural gas transport capacity per day due to the Strait of Hormuz closure. "Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz will resume as soon as possible, but at the latest this summer," Wright said, adding that an agreement could be reached as early as "the next few days." Wright stated that if Iran "continues to hold the global economy hostage," the U.S. military will "force the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, but this is not an easy thing to do." He added, "We have taken preliminary steps, but a better way is to reach an agreement rather than use military force."