Why is the Strait of Hormuz the most watched energy chokepoint?
Strait of Hormuz sits at 26.5°N, 56.5°E and connects Persian Gulf ↔ Gulf of Oman. The reference maps 5 modelled trade-route corridors onto this waypoint.
Hormuz is the only maritime exit for most Persian Gulf oil and for Qatar’s LNG. Pipelines that bypass the strait exist, but they do not replace the seaborne export system. That is the geographic fact behind the monitoring intensity: a closure is not a longer voyage, it is missing barrels until stocks and spare production elsewhere respond.
The modelled book is entirely energy: Persian Gulf → Asia (Oil) at 15M+ bpd, Persian Gulf → Europe (Oil) at 6.5M+ bpd, Qatar LNG → Europe, Qatar LNG → Asia, and Persian Gulf → Americas (Cape Route). Asia is the largest oil leg; Europe’s oil and LNG still have to clear Bab el-Mandeb and Suez after Hormuz. The Cape energy leg is the Americas alternative that never uses Suez.
The EIA World Oil Transit Chokepoints series records 21 million barrels a day on the Strait of Hormuz row. World Monitor enables the energy shock model on this waterway.
There is no second strait out of the Gulf. Overland bypass pipelines can move a fraction of crude to the Red Sea or Gulf of Oman, but they do not carry the LNG that Ras Laffan loads, and they do not recreate the 21.0 million barrels a day in the EIA 2023 World Oil Transit Chokepoints Hormuz row. World Monitor therefore enables the energy shock model on this waterway and keeps a dedicated transit research report in /research/.
Major trade routes through Strait of Hormuz
| Route | Category | Modelled volume | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Persian Gulf → Europe (Oil) | Energy | 6.5M+ bpd | |
| Persian Gulf → Asia (Oil) | Energy | 15M+ bpd | |
| Qatar LNG → Europe | Energy | 77M+ tonnes/year | |
| Qatar LNG → Asia | Energy | 40M+ tonnes/year | |
| Persian Gulf → Americas (Cape Route) | Energy | 2M+ bpd |
How to read this page
The crawlable Dataset is the registry-and-route snapshot under the chokepoint disruption methodology. Live pulse tiles are a separately frozen observation and are not copied into this Dataset. Modelled corridor volumes are dated .
Template revision 2026-09-10. Reference observation . This note is a methodology-revision stamp, not a live AIS clock. Published revisions that affect this page are in the corrections log.
Questions about Strait of Hormuz
Is there a sea route that avoids the Strait of Hormuz?
No. Gulf exports that leave by ship must use Hormuz. Bypass pipelines move some crude overland; they are not a second seaborne strait and they do not move Qatar’s LNG.
Does World Monitor model an energy shock for Hormuz?
Yes. Hormuz is shock-model supported. The committed EIA 2023 baseline is 21.0 million barrels a day, the largest row in that seven-waterway series.
Which modelled trade routes use Strait of Hormuz?
Strait of Hormuz is a waypoint on Persian Gulf → Europe (Oil) (6.5M+ bpd); Persian Gulf → Asia (Oil) (15M+ bpd); Qatar LNG → Europe (77M+ tonnes/year); Qatar LNG → Asia (40M+ tonnes/year); Persian Gulf → Americas (Cape Route) (2M+ bpd). Those corridor volumes are World Monitor modelled figures dated March 14, 2026 in the World Monitor trade-route reference.