On March 9, Mr. Janiv Shah, Vice President in charge of the oil market at consulting firm Rystad Energy, said that the world energy market is falling into a state of actual supply disruption due to drone strikes.
Meanwhile, producers in the Middle East have reached a critical threshold when the storage system is overloaded, forcing them to temporarily stop exploitation because there is no longer space to store crude oil.
In the context of oil prices continuously hitting peaks and threatening the stability of major economies, Russia's oil supply has become a strategic "variable" that cannot be ignored. The most typical example of the change in attitude of the West is the US Treasury Department's recent issuance of a special 30-day license.
This decision allows India to purchase Russian oil blocks that have been loaded onto ships previously, a rare move to ease sanctions since the conflict in Eastern Europe began.
According to experts, this is seen as Washington's urgent solution to reduce pressure on the energy market since the military campaign against Iran broke out on February 28. The large-scale attack launched by the US-Israel coalition not only destroyed key infrastructure in Iran but also pushed the entire "oil hub" of the world into a spiral of fierce military response.
Retaliation from the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeting US bases in Bahrain, Jordan and the UAE has paralyzed key shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz. When traditional producers in the Gulf region cannot bring goods to market, the West is forced to seek alternatives from other supply channels to avoid a full-scale economic collapse.
Loosening the grip on Russian oil through intermediary partners such as India shows that the US is having to use more flexible economic weapons. Instead of maintaining an absolute tough stance, Washington accepts a temporary compromise to prevent a major energy crisis that could collapse global growth.
