The closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the Middle East war is expected to weigh on the global economy for years, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Oil production has dropped sharply since the conflict began Feb. 28, and restarting output won't be quick.

In Iraq, for example, returning southern oil fields to 85% of prewar levels could take up to nine months, according to research firm Wood Mackenzie. Stored fuel must be shipped out to make room for new supply, while workers who fled due to security concerns will need to return.

"The longer things are shut in, typically the more complex they are to bring back on," Halliburton CEO Jeff Miller told analysts this week.

Roughly 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas passes through the strait, a critical choke point linking Persian Gulf producers to global markets.

But shipping has largely stalled, with Iran asserting control over which vessels may pass and the U.S. restricting Iranian maritime trade.

President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the U.S. military to "shoot and kill" Iranian boats deploying mines in the strait, a move announced a day after Tehran again demonstrated its ability to disrupt traffic.

The directive came shortly after U.S. forces seized another tanker linked to sanctioned Iranian oil, escalating tensions.

Before the conflict, about 129 vessels transited the strait daily, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. By Wednesday, that number had fallen to just nine.

"There's an awful lot of infrastructure that's been shut down," Vitol CEO Russell Hardy said at an industry event, according to the Journal. "It takes some time to put all that back."

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