As the war against Iran rolls into its fourth week, cheery estimates for an early end to the conflict are wearing off, and more dire warnings are emerging about the long-term economic impacts from the war. This took a marked increase with the prospect that gas and oil facilities may become a target in strikes—which may very well have pushed U.S. President Trump to look for the off-ramp early on the morning of March 23.
An Axios article sums up the growing worries surrounding this situation. “The direct attacks on energy infrastructure illustrate the war’s long-lasting consequences,” said Kyle Rodda, a senior financial market analyst at the online trading platform Capital.com. “Productive capacity will be offline for an uncomfortably long time, meaning energy prices are likely to fall much slower than they rose.”
In addition to gas and oil, Iran’s blocking of the Strait of Hormuz has consequences for products like fertilizer—a major factor for food production worldwide—and helium, which is heavily used in the production of semiconductors. Qatar is the second largest producer of helium.
