The recent spike in tensions between the U.S. and Iran has pushed oil prices higher mostly because of the possibility—however slim—that Iran may decide to go through with its threat to close off the Strait of Hormuz and cut off the supply of millions of barrels of crude daily to global markets. Twenty years ago, this would have been horrible news for the world’s top consumer. Now, not so much. Energy analyst David Blackmon wrote in a recent article for Forbes that the United States does not need to police the Strait of Hormuz anymore because it no longer depends on imports from the region: its Persian Gulf imports have slipped from about a sixth of consumption in 2012 to less than 10 percent last year: the average 2018 consumption was more than 20 million bpd ; imports from the Persian Gulf hovered around 1.5 million bpd in the […]