Pressure Systems edition
Hormuz Bottlenecks Squeeze European Gas and Fertilizer
October 24, 2026
What this edition shows
The lingering fallout from the US-Iran conflict in the Strait of Hormuz is rippling through critical material lifelines, stranding nitrogen fertilizer shipments and pushing European natural gas reserves to record lows ahead of winter. In response, Qatari officials are resisting transit fees and warning of delayed price peaks, while US power planners revive domestic fossil fuel infrastructure to meet compounding industrial and data center loads. As emergency petroleum buffers shrink to multidecade margins, maritime chokepoints have transformed agricultural inputs and grid fuel into direct instruments of geopolitical leverage.
Reporting and analysis behind this edition 10 sources
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Qatar warns global energy shockwaves from Iran war have yet to peak
Deputy PM calls for dialogue with Tehran, highlights US defence ties and rejects Strait of Hormuz transit fees.
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EU entering winter with lowest gas reserves on record, IEA boss warns
Al Jazeera interviews Fatih Birol in Berlin as the Iran war disrupts global energy supplies.
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UN official warns of looming food crisis as Hormuz fertiliser plan stalls
Without a quick deal to move fertiliser through the strait, agricultural productivity would 'significantly drop'.
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Are global oil reserves sufficient to withstand renewed US-Iran war?
With emergency stocks at multidecade lows, analysts say the world may have only a month or two if Hormuz shuts again.
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IEA chief warns energy is becoming a geopolitical weapon
Dr. Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA, warns that energy is becoming a geopolitical weapon.
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US-Iran war, then and now: How the landscape has changed since February
The positions of Washington and Tehran have changed dramatically since US-Israeli strikes began the war, analysts say.
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The Iran War Has Changed the World Forever
Some dramatic long-term consequences are just beginning to come into view.
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Europe needs a war economy
With US support increasingly uncertain, Europe must mobilise its financial and industrial power to defend itself.
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The fossil fuel comeback is here
The US is building more fossil fuel infrastructure than it has in a decade while renewable energy growth slows down, a new report shows. Electricity demand is also climbing faster than it has in more than a decade with more data centers, factories, and electric vehicles plugging into the grid. Despi…
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After the Apocalypse
Photographs by Lynsey Addario I. We drifted past abandoned drilling platforms, ghostly remnants of better days. Cormorants perched on the metal bars of broken oil rigs, drying their wings in the sun. When we reached a swirling, brown-green oil slick, Carlos slowed his motor. Raw oil could damage the…