The advantage of having offices around the world is that this also provides us with boots on the ground for first-hand accounts. We are getting from our Thailand office that there is “no gasoline here. Up North lineups for diesel. I tried to fill up a bike, no gasoline available. I tried several other stations, but all are out.” As I reported, Asia is going to be hard hit with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. There was no imminent threat from Iran. This has been a 40-year vendetta by Netanyahu. which he did admit in a national TV address, but asserted it was fake news that he dragged Trump into this war.

It may sound strange, but up until March 18th, 2026, this war has been more bravado and theatre than an actual all-out war. There has been a deliberate attempt NOT to destroy the energy infrastructure of Iran in hopes of leaving the energy sector intact to fund the new government after the planned regime change. But on the 18th, Netanyahu does not give a shit about the world or even Trump. He targeted Iran’s South Pars, which is the biggest gas field in the world with and estimated 51 trillion cubic meters of natural gas. Netanyahu did that because he wanted to turn the lights out in Iran since that is the source of all energy for the government and the people.

Iran retaliated with it most severe attacks yet. It targeted Qatar but this time doing damage, not superficial fires for show. Trump was forced to back off and bluntly state that there would be no more attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure. Netanyahu does not really care, but Trump read him the riot act and he agreed to stop attacking South Pars. The only way to stop this war and start some sort of de-escalation process requires Netanyahu to surrender his dream of total antihalation of Iran. The other Gulf States would have to forego retaliation, and Trump will have to concede he cannot accomplish regime change. Do not hold your breath. Further escalation will end up DESTROYING energy infrastructure and that may be in the cards given that the computer implies this may get worse starting this summer into 2028.

Just a day before the first strikes, Gallup polling had shown Americans’ view of Israel hitting a new historic low because of Netanyahu’s attack on Gaza. Americans for the first time didn’t sympathize more with Israelis than Palestinians. As the computer warned, cyclically we were in an uptrend on antisemitism and this war on Iran is not going to play well for Israel no matter what Netanyahu says on TV. Sinking a tanker is not an energy crisis. It’s the equivalent of a rounding error. Taking out the production infrastructure can lead to serious damage that could take more than one-year to fix.

Read More: The Global Energy Crisis & the Market Impact into 2028