Before the war in West Asia, a fifth of the world’s oil and gas demand passed through the Strait of Hormuz. The oil markets are alarmed that the war could be a protracted one and hyper-sensitive to every development, positive and negative. The IEA’s move to assuage markets by releasing oil from reserves is understandable but it was a moot point whether that would help at this stage. Actually, the position of natural gas reserves should perhaps be of greater immediate concern, but is receiving less attention. European gas reserves are at typically low winter-end levels, and their refilling for the next season — already impaired by reduced Russian supplies — is hampered by loss of Qatari and Emirati LNG supply.

Source: Indian Express March 13, 2026 09:13 UTC