The Trump administration says that it plans to roll out a reinsurance program for vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

CNBC reports that the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) will insure losses up to $20 billion on a rolling basis, as the White House looks to keep commercial shipping moving through the critical chokepoint in the face of heightened risks brought on by the ongoing conflict with Iran. 

President Donald Trump had previously vowed to offer insurance guarantees and possible U.S. Navy escorts to oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The proposed reinsurance program would essentially provide a backstop for private insurers, helping stabilize premiums for carriers at a time when many are reconsidering whether it is safe to transit the waterway at all.

"We are confident that our reinsurance plan will get oil, gasoline, LNG, jet fuel, and fertilizer through the Strait of Hormuz and flowing again to the world," said DFC CEO Ben Black in a March 6 news release. Roughly 20% of global crude oil is exported through the strait, as well as 20% of liquefied natural gas exports.

London-based reinsurers started canceling their war risk coverage while demanding more than 200% to reinstate policies after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard threatened to set ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz on fire. U.S. crude oil prices have also risen by 35% as tanker traffic through the region has stalled, while Gulf countries have started scaling back production without a way to export their crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

Concerns remain over the open-ended nature of the conflict in Iran as well. The war entered its second week on March 9, and there appear to be few signs of it abating anytime soon. Most recently, more than 30 people were wounded in an Iranian strike near a petroleum refinery in Bahrain, while Israel launched overnight attacks between March 8 and March 9 in Iran's capital of Tehran.