US sanctions have
cut Iran’s GDP in half and Iran is lashing out by sabotaging tankers and
seizing tankers that supply countries with 21 million bbd. The US wants Iran to stop its nuclear weapons
program and stop funding Islamic Terrorism across the globe.
Iran tanker
seizure: What is the Strait of Hormuz?, 7/29/19, BBC.
Are there other routes for oil?
Are there other routes for oil?
Despite
its small size, the Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most important
shipping routes.
It is
about 96 miles long and only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, with
shipping lanes in each direction just two miles wide.
Bounded to
the north by Iran and to the south by Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE),
the Strait of Hormuz connects the Gulf with the Arabian Sea.
The strait
is deep enough for the world's biggest crude oil tankers, and is used by the
major oil and gas producers in the Middle East - and their customers. At any
one time, there are several dozen tankers on their way to the Strait of Hormuz,
or leaving it.
How much
oil goes through it? About a fifth of the world's oil, nearly 21 million barrels a
day, passed through the Strait of Hormuz last year.
In 2016,
the most recent year for which comparable figures are available, the strait was
the world's busiest sea route for oil. It carried about 19 million barrels a
day - more than the 16 million barrels a day that went through the Strait of
Malacca, a major international waterway in the Indian Ocean.
In comparison, just five or six million barrels a day went via
the Suez Canal and Bab el-Mandeb in the Red Sea.
The Strait of Hormuz is vital for the main oil exporters in the
Gulf region, whose economies are built around oil and gas production.
In 2018, Saudi Arabia sent nearly 6.4 million barrels of oil per
day via the strait, while Iraq sent more than 3.4 million, the UAE nearly 2.7
million and Kuwait just over two million.
Iran also relies heavily on this route for its oil exports.
And Qatar, the biggest global producer of liquefied natural gas
(LNG), exports nearly all its gas through the strait.
It has
become particularly important in recent years for the major economies in Asia.
Most of
the oil going through the strait in 2018 went to China, Japan, South Korea and
India. And the US also imported nearly 1.4 million barrels a day via this
route.
The UK
does import some oil from the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz, as well as around
a third of its liquefied natural gas.
The Strait
of Hormuz is still the best route for transporting large volumes of oil out of
the Gulf and is the only route by sea.
There are
some land-based pipelines that can carry oil.
A Saudi
pipeline goes to the Red Sea, and has a capacity of about five million barrels
of oil a day.
Abu Dhabi
has a pipeline that can carry about 1.5 million barrels of oil a day down the
coast, to beyond the Strait of Hormuz. And there is a pipeline that can
transport Iraq's oil to the Mediterranean coast.
But not
all these pipelines are working at full capacity.
And they cannot
transport nearly as much oil as can be carried by ship. Does Iran control the
Strait of Hormuz?
UN rules
allow countries to exercise control up to 12 nautical miles (13.8 miles) from
their coastline. This means that at its narrowest point, the strait and its
shipping lanes lie entirely within Iran and Oman's territorial waters.
Conflict in the Strait of Hormuz
Iran diverted a British-flagged
oil tanker to one of its ports, which the UK said was illegal
US forces destroyed an Iranian
drone that came
close to the USS Boxer
The US said it was ready to carry
out air strikes after Iran shot
down a US drone
Two tankers were damaged by
explosions after leaving the Strait of Hormuz
Four tankers were hit by blasts
within the UAE's territorial waters
Shipping and oil
installations were
targeted during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war
However, international conventions give ships - including
military vessels - the right of passage through a state's territorial waters.
Iran is
allowed to act in its own territorial waters - but not at the expense of the
right-of-passage for foreign ships.
The US has
now beefed up its military presence in the region. But it has also said it is keen for other countries to
play a part in safeguarding the Gulf and wider region.
And the
UK is providing a naval escort for British-flagged
ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Comments
So far, only US and UK
battleships are arriving to guard oil tankers, but that could change if China,
Japan, South Korea, India and others join to ensure that they get their oil.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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