What to know about the Strait of Hormuz, a key passageway essential for global energy supply

Oil prices are up sharply as the widening Iran war disrupted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, highlighting how important the passageway is to the world’s oil supply

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Oil prices jumped Monday as the widening war in Iran disrupted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, highlighting how important the passageway is to the world's oil supply.

The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which about a fifth of the world's oil passes. Tankers traveling through the strait, which is bordered in the north by Iran, carry oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Iran. Most of that oil goes to Asia.

Any disruption to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is highly disruptive to the oil trade.

“The scale of what is at stake cannot be overstated,” said Hakan Kaya, senior portfolio manager at investment management firm Neuberger Berman. He said a partial slowdown lasting a week or two could be absorbed by oil companies. But a full or near full closure lasting a month or more would push crude oil prices, trading around $70 on Monday, “well into triple digits” and European natural gas prices “toward or above the crisis levels seen in 2022.”

Here’s what to know about the strait and the widening Iran war.