ANKARA
About 63 percent of the world's oil production moves on maritime routes, according to a report released by U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.
The world produced about 90 million barrels of oil per day in 2013 and 63 percent of this oil (56 million barrels per day) was transported by sea.
The report showed that the straits of Hormuz and Malacca are the world’s most strategic maritime transit points, considering the volume of oil that passes through.
“By volume of oil transit, the Strait of Hormuz, leading out of the Persian Gulf, and the Strait of Malacca, linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans, are the world's most important strategic chokepoints,” the administration said.
Along with the straits of Hormuz and Malacca, there are five more transit points in the world, which are crucial for high volumes of energy transportation including the Suez Canal and Bab el-Mandeb, which is located between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, the Danish and Turkish straits and the Panama Canal.
“International energy markets depend on reliable transport routes,” the agency report said, adding, “Blocking a transit point, even temporarily, can lead to substantial increases in total energy costs and world energy prices.”
In 2012, Iran threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz claiming more rights over its maritime borders, and in turn the United States increased its naval presence in the Strait of Hormuz.
The report highlighted the importance of the Turkish straits by declaring that increased oil exports from the Caspian Sea region makes the Turkish Straits one of the busiest transit points in the world.
“Oil through the Turkish straits supplies Western and Southern Europe,” the report added.
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