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The blockage of the Strait of Hormuz is causing a much larger problem than just a global energy crisis. While oil and gas are critical to energy security for nearly every country on Earth, petroleum is also at the heart of global food systems. A crude oil shortage is also a fertilizer shortage, with potentially disastrous consequences for farmers and consumers, especially in the world’s poorest countries. As the war in Iran stretches on, half the world’s calories are at risk. Roughly half of all fertilizer feedstock exports in the world…
Following the Mubaraz LNG tanker's exit from the Hormuz chokepoint in recent weeks, the first such transit since the conflict began, new ship-tracking data from Bloomberg late Tuesday afternoon show that the first crude supertanker, Idemitsu Maru, is also exiting the critical waterway. Idemitsu Maru, operated by the tanker unit of Japan's Idemitsu Kosan, marks yet another positive signal for Gulf energy flows, but activity in the waterway remains deeply depressed. Two key things we must point out: first, the tanker is through; second, the tanker…
Previously, we reported that Oil & Gas stocks are on track to outperform the broader market by its widest margin on record, driven by Middle East conflict, rising demand from the AI boom, and a continued rotation away from expensive technology and growth stocks. The Energy Sector has netted a 26.6% return in the year-to-date compared to 4.7% rise by the S&P 500, the best sector performance and nearly double the 14.1% gain by second-placed Materials Sector. Oil prices were rallying again on Monday, with Brent crude for June delivery up 2.92%…
The impact of the war in the Middle East could lead to structural demand destruction on the world’s natural gas markets, the head of the Gas Exporting Countries’ Forum warned in the latest sign of the far-reaching impacts of the hostilities between the United States and Israel, and Iran. The war has already disrupted international gas flows because of the Strait of Hormuz closure and the strikes on energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf, which were Iran’s retaliation for U.S. and Israeli strikes that began at the end of February.…
China has been consolidating its control over global lithium supplies for years now. As the lithium-ion battery sector continues to grow at a massive pace, the extreme concentration of lithium supply chains gives China a major economic and geopolitical advantage. It also creates worrying vulnerabilities for the rest of the world that has come to rely on imports of the ‘white gold’ to keep their tech and energy sectors running. Half of the global lithium market is controlled by China alone. “For over a decade, China has meticulously…
