Iran conflict brings energy boon for some, doom for others

(Zac Weisz – GZero) Air defense batteries moved out of Asia. Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Growing domestic frustration with the Trump administration. Formula 1 races in the Gulf canceled. The secondary effects of the US-Israel war with Iran have been expansive. But no specific issue has perhaps been more pressing for governments than the fuel shortages prompted by the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the 30-mile-wide waterway through which roughly one fifth of the world’s oil and liquified natural gas supplies passed before the war began. The fuel crisis deepened on Wednesday. Israel struck Iran’s South Pars gas field, while Tehran retaliated by launching missiles at several targets in the Gulf. Two waves appeared to successfully hit Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar, which houses the world’s largest liquefied natural gas facility, causing “extensive damage,” per Qatari officials. Oil and gas prices both shot up again, with the benchmark Brent crude topping $110 per barrel at one point on Wednesday, while Europe’s gas benchmark climbed 6%. The energy shortages stemming from the Iran conflict, though, have helped some countries and severely hurt others. GZERO examines a trio of regions – the Gulf Peninsula, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific – to see how countries in those areas have fared. – Iran conflict brings energy boon for some, doom for others – GZERO Media