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The Strait of Hormuz and global LNG supply
…on oil markets https://www.iea.org/reports/oil-market-report-march-2026 have been in focus over the past week, with IEA Member countries launching the largest ever release https://www.iea.org/news/iea-member-countries-to-carry-out-largest-ever-oil-stock-release-amid-market-disruptions-from-middle-east-conflict of emergency oil stocks to counter the supply disruptions (read more in our latest update https://www.iea.org/news/update-on-iea-collective-action-decision-of-11-march-2026 on the oil stock release). At the same time, the Gulf’s output of liquefied natural gas …
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The energy implications of events in the Middle East
…operators to start shutting in production. The region’s output of refined products has also been impacted.
Natural gas markets, meanwhile, have gradually rebalanced https://www.iea.org/reports/gas-market-report-q1-2026 in recent years following the major shock that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. A wave of new LNG capacity https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/data-tools/global-lng-capacity-tracker between now and the end of this decade is expected to transform market dynamics. But markets remained tight in the first two months of 2026, and depleted storage coming out…
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How the Middle East war has upended oil markets
…report, global oil supply dropped by 10% in March to 97 million barrels per day amid attacks on energy infrastructure in the Middle East and the plunge in shipping traffic through the critical Strait of Hormuz https://www.iea.org/about/oil-security-and-emergency-response/strait-of-hormuz.
To mitigate the immediate impact of these supply disruptions, consumers and refiners have tapped oil inventories. However, where stocks cannot fully bridge the gap, demand has taken a hit. Most notably, Asian petrochemical producers have curtailed operating rates as feedstock supply has dried up. Households and businesses using liquefied petroleum gas…
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A deepening crisis in oil markets and beyond
…provided an additional buffer to markets. Even so, observed global inventories, including oil on water, were drawn down by 250 million barrels over March and April, or by 4 million barrels per day.
Against this backdrop, global oil demand is now forecast to contract by 420,000 barrels per day in 2026. This is 1.3 million barrels per day below our pre-conflict forecast for global demand. For now, the steepest losses are concentrated in the petrochemical sector, where feedstock availability is becoming increasingly constrained. Aviation activity is also running well below normal levels. The report sees higher prices…
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What’s driving the surge in energy jobs?
…driver of this trend, complemented by rapid hiring in grids and energy storage as the Age of Electricity https://www.iea.org/newsletters/energy-snapshot/17-11-2025/the-age-of-electricity-is-here takes hold. Meanwhile, employment in fossil fuel industries also remained resilient in 2024 – with the oil and gas supply sector now having recovered most of the jobs lost during the Covid crisis in 2020.
Despite the strength of recent job creation across the energy sector, there are vulnerabilities, with companies reporting deepening shortages of skilled labour.
Out of 700 energy-related companies, unions and training institutions…
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How the crisis is reshaping energy investment
…acutely.
The report projects that global energy investment will reach $3.4 trillion in 2026, a slight increase year-on-year. Around $2.2 trillion is expected to go towards grids, storage, low-emissions fuels, nuclear, renewables, efficiency and electrification in 2026, while around $1.2 trillion is set to be invested in oil, natural gas and coal.
Despite higher oil prices, oil investment is expected to decline for a third consecutive year in 2026. The report finds that uncertainty over the duration of the price spike, long project lead times, supply chain constraints and tighter offshore rig markets are…
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How the global landscape for energy investment is changing
…And the breakdown of this spending is undergoing some important shifts, our recent World Energy Investment 2026 https://www.iea.org/news/impacts-of-middle-east-conflict-set-to-reshape-energy-investment-plans-as-disruptions-put-focus-on-security report shows.
Energy security is moving higher up the global agenda as a result of two major energy crises this decade. The latest shock, triggered by the war in Middle East, is encouraging investment in a range of projects that diversify suppliers or routes to market, including ways to reduce reliance on the Strait of Hormuz.
It is also reinforcing interest…
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The implications of surging electricity demand
…higher air conditioning use and the expansion of data centres and AI.
By 2030, renewables and nuclear are together expected to be generating 50% of global electricity. Natural gas-fired output is also set to grow through 2030, while coal‑fired generation loses ground globally as renewables expand. As a result, global carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation are expected to remain roughly flat between now and 2030.
The report emphasises that these trends – growing demand, an increasingly weather-dependent mix of power generation sources, and evolving electricity consumption patterns and technologies – require a rapid and efficient expansion of both electricity…
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IEA responding to major global energy security threat
…east-and-global-energy-markets. The disruptions to oil and gas flows and to energy infrastructure in the region have major implications for energy security and affordability – and for the world economy.
The war in the region that began on 28 February has shrunk energy trade flows through the Strait of Hormuz to a trickle, creating what our Executive Director Fatih Birol has described as “the greatest threat to global energy security in history”, with a larger loss of oil supply than in the oil crises of the 1970s and a larger loss of natural gas supply than during the…
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Tackling rare earth supply risks
New data shows supply chains for rare earths are particularly geographically concentrated
An International Energy Agency Newsletter
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Welcome back to Energy Snapshot, the International Energy Agency’s monthly newsletter focused on charts and data. In today’s edition, we look at supply chains for rare earth elements.
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In recent years, the IEA has repeatedly emphasised the energy security risks linked to the supply of critical minerals, which are vital for modern energy systems, transport and advanced manufacturing.
But…