Geopolitics › Global issues & flashpoints › Energy: oil, gas and LNG
Maritime chokepoints
· Resource or chokepoint
FactTreaties, membership, measured data, events.
Narrow sea passages, such as Hormuz, Malacca, Suez and Panama, through which much of world trade and energy must squeeze.
See it on the Geopolitics map →The picture
Over 80% of world trade by volume travels by sea, and much of it funnels through a few straits and canals. The Strait of Malacca carries the most oil, about 23 million barrels a day, linking the Indian Ocean to China, Japan and Korea. Suez, Bab el-Mandeb, Panama, the Turkish Straits and the Taiwan Strait are others. Blockages force long detours: Houthi attacks from late 2023 sent ships around Africa, adding about 10–14 days to Asia–Europe voyages.
Why it matters
Disrupting a few narrow waterways can raise freight, insurance and energy costs worldwide within days, which is why navies and rivals focus on them.
Key facts and numbers
UNCTAD's Review of Maritime Transport, US Energy Information Administration chokepoint data, Suez Canal Authority and Panama Canal transit statistics, and ship-tracking records.
What to watch
Outlook: whether new routes, such as Arctic sea lanes or overland pipelines and railways, meaningfully reduce reliance on these chokepoints; most analysts doubt it soon.
Inside this (4)
Connections (2)
▸Strait of Hormuz is the most critical of Maritime chokepointsFact
The relationship
Malacca carries more oil, but Hormuz has the fewest alternatives: Gulf exporters can bypass it only partly by pipeline, and Qatar's LNG not at all. The US Energy Information Administration calls it the world's most important oil chokepoint, and the 2026 disruption showed why.
Since when and why
Between Iran and Oman's Musandam peninsula; EIA chokepoint analyses rank it first in importance, ahead of Malacca, Suez and Bab el-Mandeb.
How we know
EIA flow data and pipeline-capacity figures, and the 2026 price spike, the market's own verdict on its importance.
What to watch
Debated: whether Malacca, which carries more oil, or Taiwan's waters, which carry more containers, would matter more in a US–China crisis.
▸Taiwan Strait tensions and PLA drills threaten one of the busiest Maritime chokepointsWidely agreed
The relationship
Nearly half the world's container ships passed through the Taiwan Strait in 2022, along with energy cargoes bound for Japan and South Korea. Ships can detour east of Taiwan at extra time and cost, but a blockade or war zone would also threaten the nearby Luzon Strait and East Asia's ports.
Since when and why
The strait is about 130 km wide at its narrowest; Bloomberg ship-tracking analysis found 48% of the global container fleet transited it in 2022.
How solid?
AIS ship-tracking data and analyses by Bloomberg and CSIS; trade-value estimates vary.
What to watch
Disputed legal status: China claims jurisdiction over the strait, while the US and allies sail through it as international waters.