Bloomberg (June 15)
“In theory, a peace deal, potentially even a temporary one, should release millions of barrels of oil that have been trapped for months in the Persian Gulf. In practice, there will still be a long list of impediments — including prosaic problems like the need to remove barnacles from ship hulls, and to ensure crews are in position and prepared to sail without electronic navigation signals.”
Tags: Barnacles, Crews, Impediments, Navigation, Oil, Peace deal, Persian Gulf, Practice, Prepared, Prosaic, Sail, Ship hulls, Temporary, Theory, Trapped
New York Times (May 24)
Americans may be blind to “the war-driven supply shock already roiling manufacturing in Asia” which is especially “disrupting manufacturing and retail goods in Japan and South Korea” due to disrupted naphtha supply. “Because it serves as the building block for so many chemical products, naphtha is often called the ‘flour’ or ‘rice’ of industry.” So when the Iran War essentially “choked off” Persian Gulf shipping lanes, “more than 80 percent of Japan’s traditional supply lines for finished naphtha products” were “abruptly severed.” By some accounts, Japan and South Korea are consequently “the countries most exposed to the current supply disruptions.”
Tags: Asia, Blind, Exposed, Iran war, Japan, Manufacturing, Naphtha, Persian Gulf, Retail goods, Roiling, Shipping lanes, Shock, South Korea, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (March 19)
“Escalating attacks on Persian Gulf oil-and-gas infrastructure are sending the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran into a dangerous new phase that threatens to worsen the crisis over global energy supplies…. Israel and Iran had already hit energy facilities throughout the nearly three-week-old war, but Wednesday’s attacks struck some of the world’s most important hubs and raised the prospect of tit-for-tat volleys against oil-and-gas facilities.”
Tags: Attacks, Crisis, Dangerous, Escalating, Facilities, Gas, Global energy, Hubs, Infrastructure, Iran, Israeli, New phase, Oil, Persian Gulf, Threatens, Tit-for-tat, U.S., War, Worsen
Bloomberg (March 2)
“For a global economy that’s been muddling through Trump’s tariff rollout and growing uncertainty over the impact of Artificial Intelligence on labor markets, the latest spike in Middle East tensions adds yet more uncertainty. Travel chaos extended through the region and beyond, while the world’s largest container carriers had to reroute ships to avoid the Persian Gulf.”
Tags: Artificial intelligence, Container carriers, Labor markets, Middle East, Muddling, Persian Gulf, Reroute, Spike, Tariff, Tensions, Travel chaos, Trump, Uncertainty
