Every Chokepoint That Isn't Hormuz
For six months the entire conversation about oil logistics has been about one strait, and you can hardly blame anyone for that. Hormuz has been effectively closed since late February, when the war between Iran and the U.S. and Israel started, and the EIA reckons only 4.9 million barrels a day of crude and liquids made it through in the second quarter. In the last quarter of 2025 that number was…
Since the deterioration of relations between Iran, Israel, and the United States began in late February, the focus of oil logistics discussions has been concentrated on Hormuz Strait. In the second quarter of 2025, only 4.9 million barrels of crude and liquids passed through the strait, compared to 21.6 million in the previous quarter.
In June, Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf of Iran's parliament stated that management of the strait would never return to its pre-war state. However, 16.7 million barrels a day are not lost; they are redirected, often through other narrow channels that are already congested. The cost of these detours is reflected in the prices of Brent and WTI crude.
The question now is not about what is happening in Hormuz, but about what is happening elsewhere. There are five other chokepoints that are currently affecting global oil supply. The most significant shift in oil logistics occurred when Riyadh redirected its exports to Yanbu on the Red Sea, bypassing Hormuz. This resulted in a significant increase in traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, which saw a doubling of traffic in the second quarter of 2025.
However, the Houthis declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia on July 20, targeting Saudi tankers and Aramco facilities at Jizan and Yanbu. This blockade has significantly reduced the number of traceable transits through the strait, and many ships have gone dark. The only alternative routes are the Cape of Good Hope, which adds considerable time and cost, or the Suez Canal, which also has limited capacity.
The Turkish Straits, including the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, have remained open, but the Kyiv drone attacks on Russian ports have disrupted Caspian crude shipments. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline provides a bypass, but for Russian Black Sea ports, there is no alternative route. Lastly, the Panama Canal is facing reduced transit due to low water levels caused by a lack of rainfall.
This has led to ships being unable to load as much cargo, resulting in significant financial losses.
Written by urgent.news from OilPrice's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
