The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea and the world’s oceans. The navigable waters at the Strait’s most narrow point are roughly 20 miles wide. Commercial and naval maritime traffic — including around 17 million barrels of crude oil aboard some 15 tankers per day — transits two designated shipping lanes inside Omani waters. Each lane (one into the Gulf, one out) is two miles wide and is separated by a two mile-wide buffer. As the primary sea route to Iraq and a key transportation corridor for global energy supplies, the importance of the Strait of Hormuz to both American military and global economic interests is difficult to overstate. Consequently, Iran's ability to attempt to disrupt traffic through the Strait is a significant threat, especially because even ineffective attempts at disruption can send oil markets tumbling.
