Elliott Abrams

And despite the fact that the Strait has been a problem in the past, only moderate efforts were made to get around it.

For example, the Saudis have a pipeline that is capable of carrying about one-fourth of the oil that goes through the Strait.

The Emirates have a smaller pipeline.

Now, you can't use pipelines for everything that goes through the Strait, for example, fertilizer.

But you could use pipelines to get around all the oil.

It just hasn't been done.

Put it this way.

The world oil market's about 105 million barrels a day.

And something like 20 million barrels were going through the Strait of Hormuz.

It's a lot.

So it's going to be revisited now for sure.

And efforts will be made.

It has given it effective control today.

That's partly just a matter of insurance.

That is, if the owners of tankers can't get insurance except at ridiculous rates, they're not going to send their tankers through the strait.

Which does suggest, by the way, it raises an interesting question of why don't, let's say, the Saudis, Emiratis, Kuwaitis, Iraqis get together and provide insurance?

But anyway, today they have effective control because of that.

They may lose it, depending on what the United States does militarily.

Well, if that's true and 100 ships were going through each day, which used to be true.

I mean, it's true a month ago.