Discuss the strategic significance of the Strait of Hormuz for global energy security and examine its implications for India's energy import dependence.

The Strait of Hormuz, linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, carries about 20 million barrels per day of oil — roughly one-fifth of global petroleum liquids consumption — making it the world's most critical oil transit chokepoint [1]. The U.S.–Iran war since February 2026 has narrowed into a contest over this waterway, converting a geographic bottleneck into the central variable of global energy security.

Why Hormuz is strategically decisive

• Volume and irreplaceability: only about 2.6 million bpd of Saudi and UAE bypass pipeline capacity exists, so most Gulf crude has no alternative exit [1]. A large share of global LNG trade, chiefly Qatari, follows the same route.
• Price transmission: sustained disruption has kept Brent elevated, with the EIA projecting an average near $87/barrel for 2026 and West Asian output returning to near pre-conflict levels only by early 2027 [2].
• Asymmetric denial: drones, ballistic missiles and fast attack craft allow a weaker power to threaten transit cheaply, while the withdrawal of war-risk insurance produces a de facto closure without physical blockade.
• Legal contestation: UNCLOS Part III guarantees non-suspendable transit passage through straits used for international navigation, which any unilateral closure violates [3].

Implications for India

• India imports close to 88% of its crude, with West Asia the dominant source [4]; a Hormuz squeeze directly widens the current account deficit, weakens the rupee and imports inflation through fuel and freight costs.
• Cushioning capacity is thin: strategic reserves at Visakhapatnam, Mangaluru and Padur total 5.33 MMT [5], with 6.5 MMT more approved at Chandikhol and Padur under Phase II [6] — days, not months, of cover.
• Vulnerability extends beyond oil to LNG contracts, remittances and the Gulf diaspora, and to connectivity plans such as Chabahar.

Hormuz demonstrates that energy security is now maritime security. For India, resilience lies in accelerating Phase-II reserves, deepening basket diversification, expanding renewables and biofuels, and sustaining balanced Gulf diplomacy — advancing both SDG-7 and strategic autonomy.