Several Asian countries are beginning to face a crisis over oil and gas shortages resulting from the Iran war, with Bangladesh perhaps most likely to run out of gas first, within a few weeks, claims a report in the The Telegraph. Bangladesh, a country of more than 170 million people, imports 95% of its oil and gas, with two-thirds of that coming from Gulf states. Imports in March are down 49% over 2025 levels and reports are that the government has been rationing for weeks. In the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, “motorists have been queueing for hours at petrol stations, universities have been shut and civil servants have been told to limit their electricity consumption during daylight hours.”
Bangladeshi Energy Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku told the country’s parliament on Monday, however, that supplies remain stable. “Let me state clearly, there is no fuel shortage in Bangladesh at this moment. In fact, we have increased supply compared to last year,” he said, blaming the crisis on panic-buying for transport and cooking oil. Officials in Dhaka have reportedly asked the U.S. for an exemption from sanctions on importing fuel from Russia.
Other Asian countries facing a possible crisis include South Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand. The Telegraph notes that “80 per cent of crude oil and oil products shipped through the Strait of Hormuz are exported to Asia, as is nearly 90 per cent of liquefied natural gas.”
In South Korea, “the government is considering imposing driving restrictions on the public for the first time since the Gulf War in 1991. The country imports roughly 70 per cent of its fuel needs from the Middle East. Companies are being encouraged to persuade their employees to cut back on car use to ease pressure on supplies.”
The Philippines and Vietnam are also exposed, importing more than 80 percent of their crude oil from the Gulf. Vietnam’s imports of crude oil roughly halved in March from the previous month, and it has not been able to replace this supply with shipments from elsewhere. “The nearest source of diesel is China. But Beijing earlier this month imposed a ban on petroleum exports.”
