War Reshapes Global Energy Order

Six months after U.S. and Israeli forces struck Iran on February 28, 2026, the conflict has fundamentally reshaped global energy markets, transforming temporary disruption into a structural challenge for producers, governments, and investors. The war has severely restricted the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, weakened OPEC's traditional market power, and accelerated a search for new resources and infrastructure, even as crude prices have shown unexpected resilience. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global seaborne oil, has fallen to a three-month low of approximately 2.2 million barrels per day as of August 2026.