How Iran’s ‘complete control’ of Strait of Hormuz is wreaking havoc on world’s oil and gas supply
Iran claims to have ‘complete control’ of one of the world’s major shipping routes, causing chaos for the global supply of oil and gas as the growing conflict in the Middle East continues.
The Strait of Hormuz is a waterway in the Persian Gulf through which around a fifth of the world’s oil passes.
Iran effectively closed the route this week after US missiles sank several Iranian ships. By Sunday, maritime traffic had dropped 80 per cent according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
“Currently, the Strait of Hormuz is under the complete control of the Islamic Republic’s Navy,” IRGC Navy official Mohammad Akbarzadeh said on Wednesday in a statement.
The IRGC has threatened to set fire to any ships attempting to pass through. President Donald Trump said that US navy forces would be deployed to escort oil tankers “if necessary”.
Experts have warned that global supply chains will face major disruption and restriction to shipping could send prices of oil well into triple digits.
Below we look at the Strait and why it is so strategically important.
The Strait of Hormuz lies between the Persian Gulf to the north and the Gulf of Oman to the south, opening up to the Arabian Sea and beyond to the rest of the world.
It is roughly 100 miles long, but only 21 miles across at it’s narrowest point.
The land-flanked passage lies in Iran’s territorial waters but is viewed as an international waterway open to all ships. The opening consists of two shipping lanes, just two miles wide in either direction.
International law permits countries to exercise control of up to 13.8 miles (12 nautical miles) from their coastline. At its narrowest point, the passage comes under both Iranian and Omani control.
Iran lies on one side of the Strait, and some of the world’s biggest oil suppliers including Kuwait, Bahrain Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman lie across the waters.
It is one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints, with 20 million barrels of oil passing through it each day – one fifth of global oil consumption – and up to one third of the the world’s supply of liquefied natural gas.
This amounts to over 500 million barrels of oil and six million tonnes of gas every month, according to Lloyd’s List. Much of this is exported to Asian markets including China (Iran’s only remaining oil customer), India and Japan.
