World Oil Transit "Chokepoints"

Energy Information Administration

United States
Energy Information Administration

BAB EL-MANDAB (RED SEA)         BOSPORUS        PANAMA CANAL/PIPELINE


RUSSIA        STRAIT OF HORMUZ        STRAIT OF MALACCA        SUEZ CANAL/SUMED PIPELINE       

April 1997
World Oil Transit "Chokepoints"

The following presents information on major world oil transit centers. Over 30 million b/d passes through the relatively narrow shipping lanes and pipelines discussed below. These routes are known as "chokepoints" due to their potential for closure. Disruption of oil flows through any of these export routes could have a significant impact on world oil prices.

Bab el-Mandab

Location: Djibouti/Eritrea/Yemen; connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea
Oil Flows (1995E): 3.4 million b/d
Destination of Oil Exports: Europe, United States, Asia
Main Concerns: Closure of the Bab el-Mandab could keep tankers from the Persian Gulf from reaching the Suez Canal/Sumed Pipeline complex, divering them around the southern tip of Africa (the Cape of Good Hope). This would add greatly to transit time and cost, and effectively tie up spare tanker capacity. In December 1995, Yemen fought a brief battle with Eritrea over Greater Hanish island, located just north of the Bab el-Mandab. The Bab el-Mandab could be bypassed by utilizing the East-West oil pipeline, which traverses Saudi Arabia and has a capacity of about 5 million barrels/day. However, soutbound oil traffic, which totalled about 600,000 b/d in 1995, would still be blocked. In addition, closure of the Bab el-Mandab would effectively block non-oil shipping from using the Suez Canal, except for limited trade within the Red Sea region.

Bosporus

Location: Turkey; this 17-mile long waterway divides Asia from Europe and connects the Black Sea with the Mediterranean Sea
Oil Flows (1995E): 1.4 million b/d
Destination of Oil Exports: Western and Southern Europe
Main Concerns: Only half a mile wide at its narrowest point, north of Istanbul, the Bosporus is one of the world's most difficult-to-navigate waterways. It is also an important route, however, for oil exports from Russia, the Caspian region, and Central Asia. The potential for collisions in the narrow strait thus is ever present, as evidenced by several major accidents in 1994, and 155 total collisions between 1988 and 1992.

Panama Canal and Trans-Panama Pipeline

Location: Panama ; connects the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean
Destination of Oil Exports: United States, East Asia
Main Concerns: At its narrowest, the Panama Canal is only 500 feet wide. Transit time from Alaska to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries is about 16 days, as compared to 40 days for a trip around Cape Horn (the southern tip of South America).

If transit were halted through the Canal, the Trans-Panama pipeline could have been used to re-route a significant proportion of northbound oil to the Atlantic. This pipeline is located outside the Canal Zone near the Costa Rican border, and runs from Puerto Armuelles on the Pacific to Chiriqui Grande on the Caribbean. It had been used to ship Alaskan oil to Gulf Coast ports; however, the pipeline was closed in early 1996 following the decision to allow Alaskan oil to be exported outside the U.S. Plans are currently being made to reverse the flow of the pipeline to allow about 650,000 barrels/day of South American oil to flow from Atlantic to Pacific destinations; this plan is contingent upon lining up enough customers to make the investment needed to reverse the flow.

Russian Oil and Gas Export Pipelines/Ports

Location: Russian oil and gas exports transit via pipelines that pass through Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland;major oil export terminals are located in Russia, Latvia, and Lithuania
Major Oil Pipeline (capacity): Druzhba (1.25 million b/d)
Major Oil Export Ports: Novorossiisk (Russia) ; Ventspils (Latvia); Tuapse (Russia) ; Klaipeda (Lithuania)
Major Natural Gas Pipelines (capacity): Brotherhood, Progress, and Union (1 trillion cubic feet -- tcf -- each); Northern Lights (0.8 tcf); Volga/Urals-Vybord, Finland (0.1 tcf); Yamal (under construction)
Destination of Oil and Gas Exports: Germany, France, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, Finland
Main Concerns: Parliamentary elections in December 1995 resulted in a strong showing by communists, agrarians, and conservative nationalists, all of whom advocate reversing Russia's move in recent years towards economic and/or political reform. Boris Yeltsin's ill health during the end of 1996 and the beginning of 1997 spurred speculation that Russia's economic and political reform program may be in jeopardy. Reversal of Russia's move towards a free-market democracy could seriously harm Russia's ability to attract foreign capital needed to develop its oil and gas industries.

Strait of Hormuz

Location: Oman/Iran; connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea
Oil Flows (1995E): 14 million barrels per day (b/d)
Destination of Oil Exports: Japan, United States, Western Europe
Issues and concerns: By far the world's most important oil chokepoint, approximately 14 million b/d of oil is exported from Persian Gulf producers through the Strait of Hormuz on its way to world markets . At its narrowest, the Strait consists of 2-mile wide channels for inbound and outbound tanker traffic, as well as a 2-mile wide buffer zone. Closure of the Strait of Hormuz would require use of longer alternate routes (if available) at increased transportation costs. Such routes include the 4.8 million b/d capacity Petroline, the 2.2 million b/d IPSA 1 and 2 lines, and the Abqaiq-Yanbu natural gas liquids line across Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea.

Strait of Malacca

Location: Malaysia/Singapore; connects the northern Indian Ocean with the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. One-third of the world's ships sail through the Strait of Malacca and the nearby Straits of Sunda and Lombok. Because of the large volume of cargo that flows through this narrow shipping lane, it is a key Southeast Asian Chokepoint .
Oil Flows (1995E): 7.8 million b/d
Destination of Oil Exports: Japan, other Pacific Rim countries
Main Concerns: The narrowest point of this shipping lane is the Phillips Channel in the Singapore Strait, which is only 1.5 miles wide at its narrowest point. This creates a natural bottleneck, with the potential for a collision, grounding, or oil spill.

Suez Canal and Sumed Pipeline

Location: Egypt; connect the Red Sea and Gulf of Suez with the Mediterranean Sea
Oil Flows (1995): 2.9 million b/d (0.8 million b/d through Suez Canal, 2.1 million b/d through Sumed Pipeline)
Destination of Oil Exports: Europe, United States
Main Concerns: Closure of the Suez Canal and/or Sumed Pipeline would divert tankers around the southern tip of Africa (the Cape of Good Hope), adding greatly to transit time and cost, and effectively tying up spare tanker capacity.
For more information on any of the countries listed in this report, see these other sources on the EIA web site:
International Petroleum Statistics Report - EIA's latest monthly international petroleum data
International Energy Annual 1995 - Annual international energy data through 1995
WORLD ENERGY Database for the International Energy Annual (requires Microsoft Access)

The following link is provided solely as a service to our customers, and therefore should not be construed as advocating or reflecting any position of the Energy Information Administration (EIA) or the United States Government. In addition, EIA does not guarantee the content or accuracy of any information presented in linked sites outside of EIA.

Suez Canal Traffic from the Egyptian Cabinet/Suez Canal Authority

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File last modified: April 4, 1997

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