Strait of Hormuz
مضيق هرمز
Tension score and event line
Available on Analyst and above
What it is
A waterway between Oman and Iran linking the Arabian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and onward to the Arabian Sea. At its narrowest it is about 33 km across, with shipping lanes roughly three kilometres wide in each direction.
What transits it
النصف الأول من ٢٠٢٥ · إدارة معلومات الطاقة الأمريكية (EIA)source
Why it moves price
The single most price-sensitive oil passage in the world: about a fifth of global petroleum liquids consumption and over a fifth of LNG trade transit it. Because Saudi, Emirati, Kuwaiti, Qatari and Iraqi exports all pass through, any disruption moves price before it materialises — the market prices the threat, not just the closure.
Is there a bypass
Bypasses are partial, not complete: the Saudi East-West pipeline to Yanbu on the Red Sea, and the Abu Dhabi crude pipeline overland to Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman. Their combined capacity is far below what transits the strait, so no bypass absorbs the full volume.
Tension is measured daily, not described
We track thirteen chokepoints and terminals, publish a daily tension score with its components and the reasoning behind each, and tie it to the prices that move with it.