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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/04/opinion/strait-of-hormuz-oil-iran-war-energy.html
The Strait of Hormuz Is Getting Less Dire by the Day
(New York Times) Christopher Smart - With every passing day, the world is learning to live without the Gulf's seaborne exports. When gas prices rise rapidly, people limit their driving. Walmart reported that customers are now buying less than 10 gallons of gas at a time on average at its filling stations. Markets locate new supplies when the old ones are suddenly cut off. The U.S., Brazil, Canada, Kazakhstan and Venezuela are increasing their oil production. China has begun to get more oil from Russia, Central Asia and the U.S. South Korea is securing supplies from Malaysia, Kazakhstan and Canada. Japan is cultivating alternative suppliers in Colombia and Mexico and expanding its nuclear capacity. U.S. jet fuel exports may help European airlines avoid significant cutbacks to their summer schedules. Choke points rarely last. The longer the Strait remains blocked, the less important oil from the Strait becomes. Oil prices have drifted lower recently not because traders expect a swift rebound in Strait shipping, but because they see supply and demand rebalancing. The writer was a trade adviser and a deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury in the Obama administration.