Yanbu May Relieve Immediate Pressure, but It Does Not Remove Geopolitical Risks for Saudi Arabia While cargo passage through the Strait of Hormuz is hampered, Saudi Arabia can benefit from the Red Sea port of Yanbu to export oil. The East-West Petroline pipeline allows Saudia Arabia to divert oil from fields in …
Read More »Beyond the Strait of Hormuz: Refining Capacity and Product-Market Vulnerability
The recent disruption in the Middle East, including the closure and uneven reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, has exposed a shift in the global energy system’s principal vulnerability. Initial concern focused on whether enough crude oil could reach the market. Yet crude flows have recovered faster than supplies of …
Read More »U.S. hits bridges and energy targets, Iran says, as strikes widen
The attacks on Iran’s infrastructure came on the sixth consecutive day of U.S. strikes. A retaliatory attack by Iran caused damage to a power and desalination plant in Kuwait.By Rachel Chason, Mohamad El Chamaa and Suzan Haidamous The U.S. military struck bridges, energy infrastructure and a port facility in southern Iran overnight …
Read More »Chokepoints of power: Hormuz, Bab el-Mandeb, and the new corridor wars
The concept of “corridor wars” describes intensifying competition among major powers over critical trade, energy, and transit routes in an era of weaponized interdependence. Unlike traditional territorial conflicts, these struggles center on controlling, securing, bypassing, or disrupting chokepoints: narrow maritime passages and overland links through which global commerce flows. Key arenas include …
Read More »A remote bridge shows how US-Iran war is expanding
A reported US strike on a railway bridge in northern Iran has drawn attention to a lesser-known front in the widening conflict: the battle over the transport corridors linking Iran to Central Asia, Russia and China. Iranian state media and the IRGC said cruise missiles attributed to US forces struck …
Read More »Can Iran Really Impose Tolls on Strait of Hormuz Passage?
Tehran Cannot Legally Redefine Freedom of Navigation Through International WatersIran proposes collecting tolls or fees from ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz to generate up to $40 billion annually. According to discussions among Iran, Oman, and other regional players, Tehran has suggested charging for “security, safety, and environmental services.” The Iranian …
Read More »US sanctions waiver could bring Iran’s oil trade out of the shadows
The United States’ new Iran sanctions waiver could do more than boost Iranian oil exports. It may also help shift Iranian energy trade from shadow networks back toward conventional global markets. On June 22, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued General License …
Read More »Power, water, and governance: The roots of Iran’s summer blackouts
Summer nears, yet Iran’s power troubles run deeper than just hot days. Blackouts loom not simply due to weather but because neglect has weakened the grid over years. Outdated plants struggle now where new investment was ignored before. Fuel runs low at times, worsened when rivers shrink beneath long dry spells. People use energy …
Read More »US-Iran interim deal offers lifeline to Gulf producers, but oil flows unlikely to normalise overnight
Energy experts estimate output to rebound within weeks, but it may take months to rebuild shipping confidence and repair damaged energy assets.New Delhi: The interim US-Iran agreement has paved the way for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, but energy market experts caution that oil production and exports from major …
Read More »The price of passage: Iran, Hormuz and the future of India’s energy security
Global energy security depends not only on whether ships can pass through Hormuz, but whether they can do so freely, predictably, and without paying tribute disguised as environmental stewardship The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints, with about 20 million barrels of oil passing …
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