Hold Your Horses! Will Iran Block the Oil Like Shrek Blocks Lord Farquaad?

Oil's in Danger? Oh My Bunion!

Alright alright settle down ogres and talking donkeys alike! Word on the swamp street is that there's trouble brewin' in the Strait of Hormuz. Apparently these Israeli fellas and Iranian dudes are at each other's throats and some folks are worried Iran might pull a Shrek and block off the whole dang thing! Now this Strait is a big deal see? Like REALLY big. We're talkin' almost 20 million barrels of oil per day sailin' through there! That's like all the mud baths a donkey could ever dream of! Blocking it would be like...like taking away Dragon's lipstick collection! A DISASTER!

The Strait of What Now itz?

So this Strait of Hormuz it's like the superhighway for oil tankers. It connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea. But get this some smarty pants experts are sayin' a full blown blockade is about as likely as Shrek wearing a tutu and singing opera! One of 'em Ellen Wald from Washington Ivy Advisors (fancy right?) says it's a no go. Why? Because it wouldn't benefit Iran especially since their oil stuff hasn't been directly hurt. Plus it'd tick off their biggest customer…you guessed it China! Awkward!

China's Got Iran By The... uh... Tail?

Yep China's the number one importer of Iranian oil. They're like best buds! And according to some fella named Anas Alhajji from Energy Outlook Advisors China ain't gonna let Iran mess with the oil flow. They'll bring down the hammer economically speaking. It's like when Shrek gives the 'look' to the villagers – nobody wants that! Apparently most of Iran's daily stuff comes through that route so they'd be cutting off their nose to spite their ogre...err face!

Deja Vu All Over Again!

This ain't the first time Iran's threatened to shut 'er down. Back in 2018 things got heated after the U.S. bailed on some nuclear deal. And even before that in 2011 and 2012 they were huffin' and puffin' about closing the strait if the West put more sanctions on them. Sounds like my friend Shrek when someone tries to take his swamp! "Get outta my swamp!"

Mission Impossible? Maybe Not!

Now the Strait's pretty wide like 35 to 60 miles wide! Some experts reckon it's simply impossible to shut it down completely. This Anas Alhajji fella says most of it's in Oman not Iran so they can't just slam the door shut. And even if they tried there are other routes those big ol' ships can take. Still some folks are a bit worried. Another expert Vivek Dhar thinks Iran might pull the plug as a 'last resort' if things get really hairy with the U.S. Helima Croft says that closing the strait would be hard because the U.S. Fifth Fleet's hanging out nearby.

So What's the Bottom Line? I Gotta Get Back to My Waffles!

Look the chances of a full scale blockade are slim like finding a polite dragon. But tensions are still high and that's got some folks nervous. Some lady called Amena Bakr says we can't completely rule it out. After the strikes oil prices jumped a bit but let's not panic. We'll just have to wait and see if cooler heads prevail. In the meantime I'm gonna go find some waffles. Maybe I'll even share with Shrek...maybe.