We use analytics cookies to understand how readers use the site. They only run if you accept. Privacy policy.
Each military or diplomatic escalation leaves a measurable mark on crude prices. Hover the white markers to read the event that drove each move.
The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly one-fifth of the world's oil supply and one-quarter of global liquefied natural gas trade. Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE all depend on the strait for export access. Saudi Arabia and the UAE maintain limited bypass capacity — the Petroline pipeline and the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline — but neither can fully substitute for Hormuz-routed volumes at current conflict-era production levels. A full closure would be the largest oil supply shock in recorded history, exceeding the 1973 Arab oil embargo in scale.