Asia

In keeping with its recent assurance of letting “non-hostile vessels” cross through Strait of Hormuz, Iran allowed two more Indian-flagged liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tankers to pass through the critical waterway. India’s shipping ministry confirmed on Sunday that the two vessels were expected to safely dock in the country later this week. The carriers, BW TYR and BW ELM – in total carrying about 94,000 tonnes of LPG cargo – were sailing towards India’s coast, the ministry said in a statement. BW TYR was proceeding towards Mumbai while BW ELM was heading to New Mangalore, the statement said, adding that the two vessels are expected to arrive in Mumbai on March 31 and New Mangalore on April 1 ⁠respectively. Following recent US-Israel military strikes, Iran has all but hal...

If the war feels like Covid-19, it’s not without reason. Both events crept up suddenly, forcing a shift in life and perspective You wake up with a sense of uncertainty, not knowing what to expect of the day. Will there be a let-up, a sudden breakthrough, light at the end of the tunnel? Or will this be yet another day of depressing news, from the economy plummeting to innocent lives lost. Things are looking bleaker, supplies have got tighter, travel plans are at a standstill. Everyone is waiting and watching. These lines were written in March 2020. If the current US-Iran war feels like Covid-19, it’s not without reason. Both events crept up suddenly, catching the world unawares, forcing a shift in life and perspective. The signs had been there, yet no one quite believed that t...

With the conflict raging in West Asia and no signs of it abating, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has recommended measures like reducing highway speed limits by at least 10 km/h, switching to electric cooking, avoiding air travel where alternatives are possible and increasing car sharing. These advisories in the IEA’s latest report come as the conflict has triggered the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market, with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries around 20 per cent of global oil consumption, reduced to a trickle. Around 20 million barrels per day of crude oil and oil products typically transit the Strait. The loss of these flows has tightened markets significantly, pushing crude oil prices above $100 per barrel and dr...

In the wake of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, supply disruptions caused by Tehran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz are straining energy stores across Asia to their breaking point. The Iran war has clearly upended energy markets around the world. Oil futures closed at $95 yesterday, even as some countries have released reserves in an attempt to prevent the oil price from going even higher. As Agence France Presse (AFP) has reported, strikes on the massive Ras Tanura refinery in Saudi Arabia, Ras Laffan gas processing base in Qatar, and the complex housing the Ruwais refinery in the United Arab Emirates, combined with Iran’s blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, has resulted in a drop of Gulf countries’ oil production by 10 million barrels per day, as compared to March 2025. AFP...