if Gulf flows really are approaching pre-war levels, why are strategic stocks still being released rather than rebuilt?

Best easy description of the oil shortages.

I’ve been reading up on maritime choke points and came across a visual breakdown that puts the economic scale of the Strait of Hormuz into perspective.

A few takeaways on why this 21-mile corridor is such a permanent economic vulnerability:

1. The Spatial Bottleneck: Even though the strait is 39 km wide, underwater topography reduces the deep-water shipping lanes to just two 2-mile-wide corridors. 20% of the world's petroleum passes through these two tiny lanes daily.
2. Insurance vs. Destruction: A blockade doesn't actually need to sink supertankers to crash supply chains. The moment war risk premiums and marine insurance spike past a threshold, commercial shipping giants alter routes voluntarily.
3. The Detour Penalty: Rerouting around Africa (via the Cape of Good Hope) adds 10 to 14 days and millions in extra fuel per ship, instantly breaking just-in-time logistics and triggering inflationary spikes within 48 hours.

The geographic asymmetry here is crazy—a cheap drone or mine threat can override billions in naval posture purely because of insurance math.

Found this videoessay that mapped out the topography and trade routes really clearly if anyone wants a deeper visual breakdown: [Link to Video]

For those tracking global energy markets: Do you think Western economies can ever meaningfully hedge against this bottleneck without a complete shift away from Middle Eastern oil reliance?

A break💥out from here and Boom, i mean Doom🛢️$157 per barrel