Visualize the global impact of the war in the Middle East on oil and gas supply.

The blockade of the Strait of Ormuz and strikes on Gulf oil infrastructure have forced the region's countries to reduce their hydrocarbon production, fueling supply fears.

“Visualize the global impact of the war in the Middle East on oil and gas supply”

Franceinfo

The war in the Middle East is 'the largest disruption' of global oil supply in history.

Franceinfo

The alert, issued on Thursday, March 12, comes from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The conflict, triggered on February 28 by American-Israeli strikes against Iran, deeply unsettles the global energy market.

Several explosions have notably hit storage tanks, oil fields, or ships carrying hydrocarbons through the strategic Strait of Ormuz.

The Gardiens de la Révolution, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, say they are ready for a long campaign to force Washington to retire by pounding Western interests in the region.

Ali Fadavi, one of its representatives, brandished the threat of a 'war of attrition' capable of 'destroying the entire American economy' and 'the global economy'.

Franceinfo

Result: oil and gas prices have surged.

“Visualize the global impact of the war in the Middle East on oil and gas supply”

Franceinfo

'We are currently witnessing the most severe energy crisis,' explains Thierry Bros to France 24.

Franceinfo illustrates in three infographics the Middle East's key role in the planet's energy supply.

Twenty million barrels are blocked daily in the Strait of Ormuz.

With this conflict, the supply shock is first logistical.

Iran indeed blocks the Strait of Ormuz, a strategic artery linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, through which usually about a fifth of the world's production of oil and LNG passes.

This body of water, between Oman and Iran, is 'deep and wide enough to accommodate the world's largest tankers and constitutes a major strategic crossing,' notes the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

On average, 20 million barrels per day of crude oil and petroleum products transited through this strait in 2025, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The planet consumes about 100 million daily, used in transportation or the plastics industry, notably.

'The risk of closing the Strait of Ormuz is the most terrible systemic risk currently materializing for the oil industry,' worries Thierry Bros on France 24.

'We estimate that 89% of crude and condensate passing through the Strait of Ormuz was destined for Asian markets during the first semester of 2025,' adds the U.S. EIA.

The consequences of the ongoing conflict are very real there.

'The Philippines, for example, import about 95% of their crude oil from the Middle East. The country's president has already asked officials to switch to a four-day workweek to save fuel,' reports the BBC.

From Europe, the Middle East 'still accounts for 20% of our oil imports and 5% of our gas imports,' explains to Vert Andreas Rüdinger, energy transition expert at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations.

As this passage closes, alternative routes struggle to compensate.

'The [Saudi] East-West pipeline of Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi's pipeline (United Arab Emirates) could together provide a capacity of about 4.7 million barrels per day to bypass the Strait in case of a supply disruption,' notes the EIA.

Unable to export their hydrocarbons, the Gulf's petro-states have thus chosen to reduce their production.

Nearly a third of the world's oil production comes from the Middle East.

In response to the situation, Gulf countries have cut their oil production by 'at least 10 million barrels per day,' the IEA states in its March report.

There are particularly 'significant supply reductions' in Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, the agency adds, which forecasts a 7.5% drop in global oil production from February to March.

Yet it is the region's black gold that largely powers cars, sails ships, enables airplanes to fly around the world, or makes the plastic in our everyday objects.

According to IEA data, the Middle East produced 30.7% of global oil in 2023, far ahead of the United States (18.5%).

Saudi Arabia is by far the leading contributor, followed by Iraq and the United Arab Emirates.

Nearly a fifth of global gas is produced in the Middle East.

The region is not only a producer of oil.

It also provides more and more gas, according to the IEA.

The Middle East countries are the second-largest global gas producers, accounting for 17% of production, behind the United States (25.3%) and ahead of Russia (14.9%), according to IEA figures.

Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia contribute mainly.

The LNG exports of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which pass almost entirely through the Strait of Ormuz, account for 20% of global LNG trade.

These productions are, they too, hard hit by the war.

'Because of the military attacks on its facilities,' QatarEnergy, Qatar's national gas company and one of the world's largest LNG producers, had announced in a statement the suspension of its production, Monday, March 2.

Four years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which had triggered an unprecedented energy crisis since the 1973 oil shock, the current crisis raises fears of a new sustained surge in gas prices.

Even in Europe: even though Middle East exports are 90% directed to Asia, a prolonged blockade would provoke increased global competition for available cargoes.

Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi's East-West pipeline could together provide a capacity of about 4.7 million barrels per day to bypass the Strait in case of a supply disruption, the EIA notes.

Unable to export their hydrocarbons, the Gulf's petro-states have thus chosen to reduce their production.

Franceinfo

Nearly a third of the world's oil production comes from the Middle East.

Gulf countries have cut their oil production by at least 10 million barrels per day, the IEA states in its March report, with significant supply reductions in Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, forecasting a 7.5% drop in global oil production from February to March.

The LNG exports of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates account for 20% of global LNG trade, and QatarEnergy announced the suspension of its production on Monday, March 2.

Four years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the current crisis raises fears of a new sustained surge in gas prices, and Europe could face increased competition for available cargoes.