How oil producers are trying to avoid the Strait of Hormuz 'choke point'

[Wuddles440]

6. Actually, it absolutely matters to "us".

Like I stated in my original comment, it doesn't necessarily affect transports north, but does those going south for Asian markets. Oil is a global commodity and traded as such (WTI, Brent, and OPEC) so even if the access to the US market is not seriously disrupted, supply to other significant markets are being dramatically impacted and the price of spot crude escalates dramatically. Also, the Saudis rely on a pipeline to transport oil to their terminal on the Red Sea which exposes another potential vulnerability. Along with the Saudis, Iraq is a major contributor to oil imports into the US and they don't have access to the Saudi pipeline. And while oil may be the major focus of this conflict, there are many other commodities such as sulphur that are negatively impacted by such a disruption and critical to the US and the overall global economy.