The impact of the Strait of Hormuz being closed goes well beyond oil. Here are a few off the top of my head:

- Qatar produces 20-33% of the world's helium;

- The supply chain for ~30 of the world's fertilizer relies upon supply chains going through the Strait of Hormuz. How do you feel about 10-20% food inflation?

- ~20% of the world's LNG passes through the STrait. Let's see how that bites come (NOrthern Hemisphere) winter;

- Many Asian countries are wholly reliant on Gulf oil for electricity and fuel; and

- Roughly ~20% of California's oil comes from Iraq. The US is the world's largest single oil and gas producer but that doesn't really matter when California has blocked any pipelines into the state such that ~75% of their oil arrives by ship.

Oil demand to a point is fairly inelastic but once you get beyond about $120-130 you start getting into destructive demand. Fuel prices really spike and in many places, it's going to severely disrupt electricity.

There are many fuel usages for which we have no alternative, namely shipping and aviation. Oh and a lot of heavy machinery and industrial uses of diesel.

Additionally, there are significant (at least 25% of the total) non-energy uses. Construction, plastic, roads, etc.

Weaning ourselves off of fossil fuels is a decades-long project and only China really is trying to do that. I suspect only China has the long-term supply chains, willpower and commitment to pull off that kind of national project.

The main thing that worries me about the use of fossil fuels is the heavy machinery where said heavy machinery is used for farming food.

There are service stations in rural Victoria that have run out of petrol[0]. If farmers can't run their machines, I don't want to continue that train of thought. I would hope that governments would obviously prioritise food production and distribution over, kinda everything else, but logic and government seem to have a strange relationship.

[0]: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-24/victorian-petrol-stat...