The question
What percentage of the world’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz?
About a fifth of global oil consumption and about a quarter of all seaborne oil trade, plus roughly a quarter of global LNG. For the fuller picture with the barrel count and the live transit data, see How much oil goes through the Strait of Hormuz?
One fifth of what the world burns.
The Strait of Hormuz carries approximately 20 million barrels of oil per day in normal conditions: crude, condensate, and petroleum products combined. Set against global consumption of roughly 100 million barrels per day, that is about 20 percent. Measured against only the oil traded by sea, the share rises to about 25 percent. Qatar additionally routes almost all of its LNG exports through the strait, giving Hormuz responsibility for roughly a quarter of global LNG trade as well.
No other single chokepoint comes close to that combination of crude volume, LNG volume, and absence of alternatives. The Strait of Malacca carries more total petroleum liquids, but those are mostly transit cargoes with alternative routes via the Lombok and Sunda straits. Hormuz is uniquely constrained: bypass pipelines cover only about 40% of normal crude throughput, and LNG has no bypass route at all. When Hormuz closes, the missing barrels and LNG cargoes have nowhere to go.
These flows collapsed when Iran closed the strait beginning 28 February 2026, the first sustained commercial closure in the strait’s modern history. The live daily transit count and throughput percentage are on the homepage. For the full breakdown including the barrel count, carrier data, and bypass pipeline capacity, see How much oil goes through the Strait of Hormuz?
Frequently asked.
FAQWhat percentage of the world's oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz?
About 20 percent of global oil consumption, or roughly 20 million barrels per day in normal conditions, and about 25 percent of all oil traded by sea. Qatar also routes almost all of its LNG through the strait, making Hormuz responsible for about a quarter of global LNG trade as well.
How many barrels per day go through the Strait of Hormuz?
Roughly 20 million barrels per day in normal conditions, counting crude oil, condensate, and petroleum products together. The pre-crisis baseline for commercial vessel transits was about 94 ships per day per IMF PortWatch. Both figures collapsed when Iran closed the strait beginning 28 February 2026.
Cite this page
The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly 20 percent of global oil consumption and about 25 percent of seaborne oil trade, plus roughly 25 percent of global LNG trade, per EIA and IMF PortWatch data as tracked by straits.live. Source: https://straits.live/what-percentage-of-world-oil-passes-through-the-strait-of-hormuz
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