I keep listening to podcasts with oil analysts & the shit they are saying is absolutely apocalyptic.
If it stays closed, we're going to have to reduce oil demand *more than demand fell during Covid*. Remember that? When the entire world shut down? More than that.
[Episode #272] – Global Energy...
[Episode #272] – Global Energy Crisis 2026 | The Energy Transition Show
The damage to Persian Gulf oil and gas infrastructure and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has thrown the world into a global energy crisis.
As Johnston says in the pod, imagine how high oil prices would have to get to convince, say, Americans to cut back as much as they did during Covid.
There is no such price! Meaning most of the suffering, the cutting back, is going to fall on emerging economies. People are going to die.
Oil, yes. But also natural gas. Also specialty fuels. Also plastics & other petroleum-based products (almost everything). Also pharmaceuticals. Also fertilizer. Also semiconductors. This is going to fuck up everything and everybody.
David Roberts
Grassroots Joe