The Strait of Hormuz has now been effectively sealed by the chaos of the Iran war for nearly two months, starving the global economy of essentials. The 39-kilometre-wide passage normally serves as a primary funnel<\/a> for energy, fertilizer, and critical raw materials like sulphur. But fully free navigation might not be realistic<\/a> for a long time. Dire consequences<\/a> are predicted. <\/p>\n That begs a basic question: how did we come to rely so heavily on something that could be rendered inoperative virtually overnight?<\/p>\n The strait has been strategically important since the days of astrolabes, but it secured its place in the modern economy around the time of Bahrain\u2019s first major oil strike in 1932<\/a>. That was followed by Saudi Arabia\u2019s first big strike<\/a> six years later; a Saudi oil port was promptly opened<\/a> not far away on the Gulf, which would eventually become the world\u2019s biggest<\/a>, and barrels began flowing through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n On the northern shore of the Gulf, Iran had its first big oil strike decades earlier<\/a> (the formation of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company followed, and its nationalization would play a fateful role<\/a> in the country\u2019s future relations with the West). Major discoveries were also made in Iraq<\/a>, Kuwait<\/a>, the UAE<\/a>, and Qatar<\/a>, all nestled around a body of water separated from the high seas by a single, increasingly crowded exit point.<\/p>\n Clearly, the oil-producing countries utilizing the strait would have to organize if they wanted to maximize the benefits of their abundant resource. In 1960, four of them joined together with Venezuela to form OPEC<\/a>.<\/p>\n A \u2018Tanker War\u2019 in Hormuz and a gas boom <\/p>\n The strait\u2019s status as a flashpoint endured. <\/p>\n A regional conflict in the 1980s gave rise to the Tanker War<\/a>, when Iraq began attacking ships carrying Iran\u2019s exports through the Gulf. Iran eventually responded in kind; it mined the strait<\/a> and even threatened a blockade, but stopped short because the move was deemed too extreme. Oil prices jumped and then recovered. <\/p>\n Reasons to rely on the strait only multiplied. Production of natural gas in the Gulf accelerated in the early part of this century. Qatar\u2019s exports, much of it liquefied and loaded into cryogenic containers on ships pointed east towards the strait, increased by about 800%<\/a> between 2000 and 2023. <\/p>\n It\u2019s not just gas, it\u2019s the many vital things that can be manufactured as gas byproducts. Fertilizer, for example; Qatar utilizes its massive gas capacity to churn out the most popular form of nitrogen fertilizer in large quantities<\/a>. Sulphur is another byproduct \u2013 about half of the seaborne trade<\/a> in this crucial element of battery production normally transits the strait. <\/p>\n Here\u2019s where the inevitable search for alternatives to transporting through the Strait of Hormuz gets tricky. <\/p>\n Oil and gas can at least theoretically be shipped through pipelines. Saudi Arabia has already ramped up oil exports<\/a> via a 1,200-kilometre pipeline that reaches the Red Sea, as way of bypassing the strait. <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Mtp25N2TuGgkQD6n1PAzpqVuqeZzXmh-QVHr_4i541Q.gif\")
At its narrowest point the Strait of Hormuz is less than 40 km wide. Image: EarthTime<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/l3ZQIaDGQHdYwPiYEe0dMXy2P-KaCHBgpGBCH9azQPY.jpg\")
Hormuz in the days of Portuguese fortresses. Image: Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n