Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Important world oil transit chokepoints
2006 est.
oil flow
(millions of
b/d)
Width at
narrowest
point
Primary
destination
Name
Oil source
Persian Gulf
Nations (incl. Saudi
Arabia, Iran and
UAE)
Japan, the US,
Western Europe,
other Asian coun-
tries
Strait of
Hormuz
16.5-17
21 miles
All Asia Pacific
consumers (incl.
Japan and China)
Strait of
Malacca
Persian Gulf
Nations, West Africa
15
1.7 miles
Suez Canal/
Sumed
Pipeline
Persian Gulf
Nations (especially
Saudi Arabia), Asia
2.5
1000 feet
Europe and the US
Bab-el-
Mandeb
3.3
18 miles
The Persian Gulf
Europe and the US
Turkish
Straits
Western and
Southern Europe
2.4
0.5 miles
Caspian Sea region
Panama
Canal
The US and
Central America
0.5
110 feet
The US
Source: US Department of Energy
The world's oil policeman
The US effectively acts as the policeman of global oil, keeping it flowing
through the sea lanes of the world. This is not altruism. The blockage of
any major oil route would raise the cost of oil and its biggest importer, the
US, would be hit the hardest. Protection of sea lanes around the world
is perhaps the principal justification for the US maintaining such a large
navy - not only its Fifth Fleet, based at Bahrain inside the Gulf, but also
other fleets that see it as their responsibility to help keep the Suez and
Panama Canals, and the Malacca straits, open to shipping in general and
tankers in particular.
