Kuwait's once prosperous oil sector has stood largely paralysed for months, with petroleum exports plummeting as fighting raged across the Gulf -- triggering the country's largest crisis in decades. Half a year into the war, Kuwait remains a hostage to its uncompromising need to access the Strait of Hormuz -- where the war between the US and Iran has choked off the once plentiful energy exports that moved across its waters.

Some of the world’s largest energy exporters dislike the emerging deal to reopen the waterway but fear going back to war would be worse. | World News

Saudi Arabia has redirected oil exports away from the Strait of Hormuz, but most Gulf producers still lack a reliable backup option to the world's most important energy choke…