Nearly 59 million barrels per day (b/d) of global petroleum and other liquids production moved on maritime routes in 2015, or almost 61% of the world total. Many of these products transited the Suez Canal and SUMED Pipeline, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the Strait of Hormuz chokepoints around the Arabian Peninsula.
Chokepoints are narrow channels along widely used global sea routes, and they are critical to global energy security. The inability of oil to transit a major chokepoint, even temporarily, can lead to substantial supply delays and higher shipping costs, resulting in higher world energy prices.
