How Much Oil Passes Through the Strait of Hormuz — and What Happens If It Closes?

Short answer: roughly 20 million barrels of oil per day move through the Strait of Hormuz — about one-fifth of the world's petroleum consumption and around a quarter of all seaborne oil trade. Add liquefied natural gas, mostly from Qatar, and close to one-fifth of global LNG trade passes through the same narrow waterway. That is why a strait just 39 km wide at its narrowest point can move prices in Toronto, Delhi and everywhere in between.

On this page: how much oil really moves through Hormuz, which countries depend on it, how much can bypass it by pipeline, what a closure would do to Brent and pump prices, and why the market often reacts before a single ship stops.

How much oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz every day?

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates oil flows through Hormuz averaged about 20 million barrels per day in 2024, roughly 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption. The International Energy Agency (IEA) gives the same picture for 2025: about 20 million barrels per day, around 25% of the world's seaborne oil trade, with roughly 80% of it destined for Asia — China, India, Japan and South Korea are the biggest buyers.

To feel the scale: 20 million barrels a day is more oil than the entire daily consumption of every country on Earth except the United States and China. It leaves the Persian Gulf through shipping lanes just a few kilometres wide in each direction, with Iran on the northern shore and Oman and the UAE on the southern shore.

Which countries depend on Hormuz?

Almost every Gulf producer has no other way to reach its customers by sea:

Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE and Kuwait send most of their crude exports through the strait.
Qatar relies on Hormuz for its LNG exports — Qatar and the UAE together account for almost 20% of global LNG exports.
Iran itself exports through the same route, which is one reason a full closure would hurt Tehran too.
India depends on Gulf crude for a large share of its imports, so Hormuz risk shows up quickly in Delhi and Mumbai fuel prices.
Canada and the United States import relatively little Gulf oil directly — but oil is priced globally, so a Hormuz shock still lands at North American pumps within days.

We track that live exposure every day on our Hormuz Tracker, including the Hormuz Risk Index, tanker signals and the day's Brent price.

Can oil bypass the Strait of Hormuz?

Only partly. Saudi Arabia's East–West pipeline to the Red Sea and the UAE's pipeline to Fujairah can reroute some crude around the strait. The IEA puts the redirectable pipeline capacity at roughly 3.5 to 5.5 million barrels per day — at best, about a quarter of normal Hormuz flows. There is no pipeline bypass for LNG at all: Qatar's gas has to sail, or it does not move.

That gap — roughly 15 million barrels a day with nowhere else to go — is the number the market fears. Strategic petroleum reserves can cushion a short shock, and governments coordinated releases during past crises, but reserves are measured in weeks, not months.

What happens if the Strait of Hormuz closes?

Three things happen in sequence, and only the first one needs a physical blockade:

1. Prices jump on risk alone. Oil markets price danger before they price shortages. Tanker insurance premiums spike, owners slow down or pause transits, and Brent rises on the fear of missing barrels. In June 2025, the EIA recorded Brent jumping from $69 to $74 in a single day on regional tension — with no blockade at all.

2. A real closure removes about a fifth of world oil supply. Analysts' scenarios for a sustained full closure generally start with a sharp double-digit spike in crude, because spare production capacity outside the Gulf cannot replace Gulf barrels that cannot leave. The longer the closure, the more it becomes an inflation story: diesel, shipping, food and air travel all reprice.

3. Pump prices follow crude — fast up, slow down. In Toronto, the pass-through shows up in gasoline and especially diesel, because diesel markets are tighter than gasoline markets. You can watch both move daily on our Toronto diesel price page and the Brent price page.

Why this matters right now

Hormuz risk is not theoretical this month. Tankers have been struck near Oman, an announced Russia–Ukraine energy ceasefire is being repriced by the market in real time, and Brent opened the week around $103 a barrel — having touched the mid-$100s on Hormuz fear. Our latest published Hormuz Risk Index stands at 69 out of 100 — HIGH: flows are moving, but the margin for error is thin.

The honest summary most headlines skip: Hormuz does not need to close to cost you money. It only needs to look dangerous. Insurance, freight and crude all charge for risk long before they charge for shortage — and that risk premium is exactly what we measure every day.

Frequently asked questions

How wide is the Strait of Hormuz?
About 39 km (21 nautical miles) at its narrowest point, with inbound and outbound shipping lanes roughly 3.7 km wide each, separated by a buffer zone.

What percentage of the world's oil passes through Hormuz?
About 20% of global petroleum consumption and roughly 25% of seaborne oil trade, according to the EIA and IEA — around 20 million barrels per day.

Has the Strait of Hormuz ever been closed?
It has been threatened many times and shipping has been attacked during past conflicts, but a complete, sustained closure of all traffic is the scenario markets fear precisely because the volumes are so large and the bypasses so small.

Why do Canadian gas prices rise if Canada barely imports Gulf oil?
Because crude is a global market. Canadian producers sell into world prices and Canadian refiners buy at world-linked prices, so a supply shock anywhere raises the benchmark everywhere — and a weaker Canadian dollar can add to the pump price.

Where can I follow Hormuz risk daily?
On our Hormuz Tracker — updated daily with the Hormuz Risk Index, Brent, tanker signals and the one development that matters most that day.

Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Amid regional conflict, the Strait of Hormuz remains critical oil chokepoint" (June 2025); International Energy Agency, Strait of Hormuz energy-security overview (updated February 2026). Prices and the Hormuz Risk Index are updated daily on the pages linked above.

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