Strait of Malacca
مضيق ملقا
What it is
A long passage between the Malay Peninsula and Indonesian Sumatra, linking the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea. Its narrowest point, the Phillips Channel near Singapore, is about 2.7 km wide.
What transits it
النصف الأول من ٢٠٢٥ · إدارة معلومات الطاقة الأمريكية (EIA)source
Why it moves price
The largest oil chokepoint by volume, and the artery connecting Gulf producers to East Asian consumers — China, Japan, Korea. Congestion here does not halt supply so much as lengthen the voyage, lifting freight and insurance and compressing inter-basin spreads.
Is there a bypass
The Lombok and Makassar straits to the south, both adding days to the voyage though accommodating deeper-draught vessels.
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.