Directory
LNG exposure to maritime chokepoints
11 named chokepoints, ranked by the LNG export capacity routed through them on the usual path from source to market. A cargo can cross more than one, so these figures are not additive across rows — this is an editorial routing model, not vessel tracking; see the caveat below before treating a figure as measured.
Routing is a hand-maintained model of typical laden voyages (full methodology), not AIS data. Export capacity is counted once per terminal even where a route serves more than one destination market. The same figures are available as JSON at /api/chokepoint-exposure.json.
Chokepoints ranked by export capacity exposed
| Chokepoint | Export terminals | Export capacity | Import terminals supplied via it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bab el-Mandeb | 57 | 362 | 168 |
| Suez Canal | 57 | 362 | 168 |
| Panama Canal | 43 | 242 | 250 |
| Strait of Malacca | 69 | 174 | 154 |
| Strait of Hormuz | 6 | 141 | 219 |
| Lombok Strait | 14 | 56.5 | 154 |
| Makassar Strait | 14 | 56.5 | 0 |
| Strait of Gibraltar | 4 | 37.5 | 114 |
| Cape of Good Hope | 57 | 25.6 | 0 |
| Danish Straits | 0 | — | 114 |
| Taiwan Strait | 0 | — | 154 |
Common questions
Each answer stands on its own.
- Which chokepoint carries the most LNG export capacity?
- Bab el-Mandeb, with 362 Mtpa of operating and under-construction export capacity routed through it on the usual path from 5 exporting countries.
- Is this AIS or vessel-tracking data?
- No. It is an editorial model of the route a laden cargo would normally take between an exporting region and an importing market, held in a hand-maintained lane table and applied to every terminal that lane matches. It does not track a specific ship or voyage — see the methodology page for what it does and does not account for.
- Why do some chokepoints show the same export figure?
- Bab el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal are paired on the same route in the lane model: a cargo that transits one is modelled as transiting the other, so terminals and capacity match exactly between them. That reflects how the two are actually used together on the Europe-bound route from the Middle East and East Africa, not a data error.
- Does a terminal only ever have one chokepoint?
- No. Many carry an alternative route alongside the usual one, most often the Cape of Good Hope beside the Suez Canal / Bab el-Mandeb pairing. Each chokepoint's own page lists both.