June 26, 2019
Rising tensions between the US and Iran threaten the security of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway plied daily by dozens of tankers carrying oil out to the rest of the world from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. At the moment, the US Navy provides security in the international waters there, but President Trump has suggested other major oil consuming countries should pitch in more to help. Here's a look at the countries that are most dependent on oil exports shipped through the world's most important energy chokepoint.
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QatarEnergy's liquefied natural gas production facilities, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar, on March 2, 2026.
REUTERS/Stringer
The US-Israeli war with Iran has badly damaged oil & gas producers in the Gulf and consumers in the Indo-Pacific. But not all countries within those regions will feel the pain equally.
A Russian LNG tanker, Arctic Metagaz, damaged earlier this month and currently adrift without crew, floats in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea between Malta and the Italian islands of Lampedusa and Linosa, in this handout picture released on March 13, 2026.
Marina Militare/Handout via REUTERS
700: The tons of fuel and liquefied natural gas aboard a Russian tanker that is currently floating around the Mediterranean Sea unmanned, after a drone attack earlier this month prompted the crew to abandon ship.
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