Will the West Asia war accelerate the age of electricity? Explained in charts
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.When the 1973 oil crisis struck, it dramatically changed the way that economies used fossil fuels such as petroleum. Economies are still fossil-fuel dependent, but much less than about 50 years ago. The West Asia war could prove another turning point in the story of dependence on fossil fuels.
In a recent interview with the Guardian, International Energy Agency (IEA) executive director Fatih Barol said the US-Iran war had changed the fossil fuel industry forever.“There will be a significant boost to renewables and nuclear power, and a further shift towards a more electrified future,” he said. Even now, IEA’s data bear witness to this shift. Till just a few months ago, the so-called ‘green transition’ had seemingly come to a standstill.
The US government, under President Donald Trump, had swung away from incentivizing environmentally-friendly energy sources and back towards fossil fuel. Analysts widely expected an oil glut in 2026, with weak and falling prices through the year, further inhibiting incentives to switch away from crude oil.All that has changed in a matter of months. The US-Israel invasion of Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz—which handles critical volumes of oil trade—has sent prices soaring.
Most analysts have revised their forecasts for the average crude price for 2026 upwards. The World Bank, in its April commodities outlook, expects it to be around $86 per barrel in 2026, up from a forecast of $60 per barrel made towards the end of 2025. Analysts at Goldman Sachs expect crude prices this December quarter to be around $90 per barrel.The problem is not just the spike in oil prices, but the extent to which it persists.
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