Global GridOil shipping chokepoints: where the world's oil squeezes through
Most of the world's oil travels by sea, and much of it squeezes through a handful of narrow straits and canals. In January to June 2025 about 79.8 million barrels a day were carried by sea; the busiest chokepoint, the Strait of Malacca, carried 23.2 million.
Watch the tanker routes through each chokepoint on the animated Flows map. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted since late February 2026 by the conflict involving Iran. The US Energy Information Administration reports that 14.6 million barrels of oil a day passed through it in the first three months of 2026, down from 20.4 million a year earlier. More on the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil through each chokepoint (million barrels a day)
| Chokepoint | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Jan–Jun 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strait of Malacca | 22.8 | 22.1 | 23.0 | 24.0 | 22.5 | 23.2 |
| Strait of Hormuz | 19.2 | 19.7 | 21.9 | 21.8 | 20.7 | 20.9 |
| Cape of Good Hope | 7.9 | 7.2 | 6.1 | 6.2 | 9.3 | 9.1 |
| Suez Canal and SUMED pipeline | 5.4 | 5.2 | 7.3 | 8.8 | 4.8 | 4.9 |
| Danish Straits | 3.1 | 3.1 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| Bab el-Mandeb | 5.7 | 6.0 | 8.0 | 9.3 | 4.1 | 4.2 |
| Turkish Straits | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.7 |
| Panama Canal | 1.7 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 2.3 |
| All oil carried by sea | 74.1 | 75.9 | 78.6 | 80.2 | 79.7 | 79.8 |
Crude oil and oil products. Panama Canal figures are for years running October to September. A tanker can pass more than one chokepoint, so the rows do not add up to the total.
LNG through each chokepoint (billion cubic feet a day)
| Chokepoint | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Jan–Jun 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strait of Malacca | 7.4 | 8.9 | 8.3 | 9.4 | 10.1 | 9.2 |
| Strait of Hormuz | 10.7 | 10.8 | 11.0 | 10.6 | 10.5 | 11.4 |
| Cape of Good Hope | 3.5 | 3.3 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 7.8 | 5.7 |
| Suez Canal and SUMED pipeline | 3.8 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.1 | 0.5 | 0.9 |
| Danish Straits | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| Bab el-Mandeb | 3.8 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Turkish Straits | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
Where they are
- Strait of Malacca: Between Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore: the shortest sea route from the Middle East to East Asia.
- Strait of Hormuz: Between Iran and Oman: the only sea route out of the Persian Gulf.
- Cape of Good Hope: The route around southern Africa, taken by tankers that avoid the Red Sea.
- Suez Canal and SUMED pipeline: Egypt's canal, and the SUMED pipeline beside it, between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.
- Danish Straits: Between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, used by tankers leaving Russia's Baltic ports.
- Bab el-Mandeb: Between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, at the southern end of the Red Sea.
- Turkish Straits: The Bosporus and the Dardanelles, between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean (oil figures for the Dardanelles).
- Panama Canal: Between the Atlantic and the Pacific. These figures are for years running October to September.
Questions and answers
Which shipping chokepoint carries the most oil?
The Strait of Malacca, with about 23.2 million barrels a day in January to June 2025, followed by the Strait of Hormuz (20.9 million).
How much oil goes through the Suez Canal?
About 4.9 million barrels a day through the Suez Canal and the SUMED pipeline beside it in January to June 2025, down from 8.8 million in 2023.
Why did more oil sail around the Cape of Good Hope in 2024?
From 2024, attacks on ships in the Red Sea led most tankers between the Gulf and Europe or the Americas to sail around southern Africa instead of using the Suez Canal. Oil around the Cape of Good Hope rose from 6.2 million barrels a day in 2023 to 9.3 million in 2024, while Suez fell from 8.8 million to 4.8 million.
How much of the world's oil travels by sea?
About 79.8 million barrels a day in January to June 2025, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
More on energy security
- Strait of Hormuz
- Strategic oil reserves
- Oil and gas prices
- World power grid map
- UK electricity interconnectors
- Every country's energy security score
Source: US Energy Information Administration, World Oil Transit Chokepoints (EIA analysis based on Vortexa tanker tracking) and its LNG tables (public domain).
To cite this page: Global Grid, “Oil shipping chokepoints: where the world's oil squeezes through”, globalgrid.uk/oil-chokepoints, and the original source named above.