The Strait of Hormuz closure in March 2026 has emerged as the largest oil supply disruption recorded in history, according to data from the International Energy Agency via the World Bank Commodity Markets Outlook. The disruption resulted in a loss of 10.1 million barrels per day of oil supply, surpassing all previous major supply shocks documented over the past five decades. Iran has largely blocked shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz since February 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel launched an air war against Iran.
The near halt in tanker movements through this critical maritime chokepoint has forced Gulf countries to cut oil production, with supply losses expected to increase as long as shipping flows remain disrupted. The Strait of Hormuz's critical importance to global energy markets cannot be overstated. Located in the Persian Gulf, the world's leading oil trading region, the strait typically handles approximately 20 percent of global petroleum trade.
Its closure therefore creates unprecedented pressure on global oil markets and energy security worldwide. Before the 2026 Hormuz disruption, the Iranian Revolution represented the largest oil supply disruption on record. From November 1978 to April 1979, falling oil production in Iran resulted in a supply loss of 5.6 million barrels per day.
The March 2026 Hormuz disruption exceeded this by 4.5 million barrels per day, representing an increase of approximately 80 percent. Other major oil supply disruptions pale in comparison to the current crisis. The Arab oil embargo, lasting from October 1973 to March 1974, caused a loss of 4.3 million barrels per day and resulted in an almost fourfold increase in oil prices.
That embargo forced some countries to implement fuel rationing due to widespread shortages and is considered the first major global oil crisis. It directly led to the creation of the International Energy Agency. The invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, which lasted through January 1991, also caused supply losses of 4.3 million barrels per day and caused global oil prices to double within days.
The Iran-Iraq War, occurring between October 1980 and January 1981, resulted in supply losses of 4.1 million barrels per day. More recent disruptions proved smaller in scale but remained significant in absolute terms. The early phase of the Iraq War, from March through December 2003, caused a supply loss of 2.3 million barrels per day.
Libya's civil war, occurring from February through October 2011, resulted in a loss of 1.5 million barrels per day. Geographically, five of the seven major disruptions documented are tied to the Middle East, underscoring the region's outsized importance to global oil supply stability. The 2026 Strait of Hormuz closure stands uniquely as the first event in this historical dataset to surpass a supply loss of 10 million barrels per day.
Source: International Energy Agency via World Bank Commodity Markets Outlook
Source: visualcapitalist.com