“Everything up in the air”: LNG, the Strait of Hormuz, and Central & Eastern Europe’s energy future
"LNG shipments to Central & Eastern Europe are reliable as long as those gas markets are not overly dependent upon one supplier."
Within days of the initial U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran on February 28, 2026, the world was plunged into an energy crisis.
When the Iran War disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and tightened global gas balances, a familiar assumption quickly resurfaced: Russia, possessing the largest proven natural gas reserves in the world, would inevitably emerge as one of the principal beneficiaries.
The Iran war will accelerate the region’s economic transformation.
An historic supply shock is testing the energy-exporting economies of the Gulf and reshaping global energy security.
The war in Iran is not just another energy shock. It is arriving at a moment when Europe is already under cumulative strain: a war on its eastern border, the lingering aftershocks of the 2022 energy crisis, industrial decline, political fragmentation, fiscal limits, and a widening debate over how much of its own security it must now provide.
Amid global oil and gas disruptions, China stands prepared for the electrostate era.
America needs a plan for Tehran's nuclear program.
Qatar is entering the world's next LNG expansion phase with a large share of uncontracted supply, and how it will navigate this phase is the central uncertainty in the LNG market.
Explore the latest energy and climate change news and research from the Middle East and North Africa region.