A fifth of global energy passes through one narrow gateway
This tiny maritime corridor is so critical that a single day of closure can trigger a global recession, dictating the price of everything from gasoline to plastic.
At its narrowest point, the Strait of Hormuz is only 21 miles of navigable water, yet it functions as the central artery for the world's industrial heart. Every day, tankers carry roughly 21 percent of the entire global petroleum liquid consumption through this passage, squeezed between the rugged coastlines of Iran and Oman. Because the deep-water shipping lanes are only two miles wide in either direction, even a minor naval skirmish can effectively paralyze the flow of energy to the West and Asia.
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