{"id":115700,"date":"2026-03-08T05:53:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T08:53:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shipping.einnews.com\/article\/898018005"},"modified":"2026-03-08T05:53:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T08:53:47","slug":"fact-check-team-strait-of-hormuz-risks-explained-us-gears-up-to-protect-shipping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/08\/fact-check-team-strait-of-hormuz-risks-explained-us-gears-up-to-protect-shipping\/","title":{"rendered":"Fact Check Team: Strait of Hormuz risks explained, US gears up to protect shipping"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WASHINGTON (TNND) \u2014 <\/span>The White House says<\/a> the U.S. is prepared to protect commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, as tensions with Iran intensify.<\/p>\n

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most important energy choke points on the planet. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says oil flows through the strait averaged about 20 million barrels per day in 2024, roughly 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption. So, when the Strait looks unstable, markets react fast.<\/p>\n

Prices moved, and consumers can feel it quickly<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the last few days, Reuters reported<\/a> that at least three tankers were damaged in the Gulf as the conflict escalated, adding to fears that energy shipments could be disrupted. On Tuesday, Reuters <\/a>also reported Brent settled at $81.40 a barrel (up 4.7% that day), as the conflict intensified and traders priced in higher supply risk.<\/p>\n

That kind of oil move can feed into U.S. gasoline prices, and GasBuddy <\/a>has been warning of a near-term jump. A GasBuddy-linked report cites analyst Patrick De Haan saying drivers could see a 10\u201330 cent per gallon increase.<\/p>\n

What if the Strait stays disrupted?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If shipping through Hormuz is meaningfully slowed, or temporarily halted, the impact wouldn\u2019t be contained to the Gulf. The EIA notes <\/a>that most oil that transits Hormuz is headed to Asia, and China and India are among the largest destinations for those flows, which is why the risk is global, not local.<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s the key point for Americans: even though the U.S. produces a lot of its own oil and gas, we still buy and sell energy in a global market.<\/p>\n

The EIA estimates the U.S. received relatively small shares of its petroleum liquids through Hormuz, about 2% of total U.S. petroleum liquids consumption (and about 7% of total U.S. crude oil imports), but global prices still set the tone.<\/p>\n

Has the Strait of Hormuz ever been \u201cclosed\u201d before?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not for a sustained period in modern history.<\/p>\n

A Columbia Center <\/a>on Global Energy Policy report explains that while Iran has threatened disruption repeatedly, a complete, prolonged shutdown hasn\u2019t happened, and historically, even during major conflict, traffic has continued under heightened risk. Britannica<\/a> similarly frames the strait as a repeatedly contested chokepoint, but not one that\u2019s been fully and durably sealed off to global shipping.<\/p>\n

The closest time to a total shutdown was the 1980s \u201cTanker War\u201d during the Iran\u2013Iraq conflict: ships were attacked and damaged, but shipping didn\u2019t fully stop.<\/p>\n

How did the world keep oil moving then?<\/p>\n

Escorts – and a lot of them.<\/p>\n

A Strategic Studies Institute \/ U.S. Army War College <\/a>publication (via JSTOR) notes that in March 1987 the U.S. agreed to transfer Kuwaiti tankers to the American flag, and in July 1987 the U.S. Navy began Operation Earnest Will, providing naval escorts to tankers in the Persian Gulf. In other words: the playbook was \u201ckeep the route open, even in a high-threat environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

And now we\u2019re hearing echoes of that playbook again<\/strong><\/h2>\n

President Trump said the U.S. Navy would escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz if necessary, which is essentially a modern version of the Earnest Will concept.<\/p>\n

That matters because, as the EIA points out, even without a formal \u201cclosure,\u201d the risk of attacks can raise shipping and insurance costs and tighten supply, which can push prices higher.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… prepared to protect commercial shipping<\/span> through the Strait of Hormuz … the Strait stays disrupted? If shipping<\/span> through Hormuz is meaningfully … sealed off to global shipping<\/span>. The closest time to a total … of attacks can raise shipping<\/span> and insurance costs and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115700\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}