As Iran has tightened its chokehold on one of the world’s most vital shipping routes and the Trump administration sent mixed signals about how long the war would last, oil prices have swung wildly. Rebecca F. Elliott, who covers energy for The New York Times, explains just how much the world depends on that route — the Strait of Hormuz — and how quickly shutting it down can throw global energy markets into chaos. Elliott, who covers energy for The New York Times. Background reading: How war in the Middle East is choking off the world’s oil and gas. A jump in oil prices was a sign of growing concern that the war will continue to take a toll on energy supplies. Photo: An island in part of the Strait of Hormuz. The war in the Middle East has affected the strait, a conduit for about a fifth of the world’s oil. Nicolas Economou/Reuters For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company.