As the war in the Middle East halts most of the oil and gas trade from the region, countries thousands of miles away are feeling the pain of their energy supplies suddenly vanishing. Some are feeling the loss more acutely than others.
Asian countries are the biggest buyers of Persian Gulf energy
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Pakistan
Total energy imports in 2024
$17 bil.
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Japan
Total energy imports in 2024
$139 bil.
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Thailand
Total energy imports in 2024
$43 bil.
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South Korea
Total energy imports in 2024
$144 bil.
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India
Total energy imports in 2024
$180 bil.
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Maldives
Total energy imports in 2024
$774.1 mil.
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Taiwan
Total energy imports in 2024
$47 bil.
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China
Total energy imports in 2024
$413 bil.
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Sri Lanka
Total energy imports in 2024
$4 bil.
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Malaysia
Total energy imports in 2024
$44 bil.
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Singapore
Total energy imports in 2024
$86 bil.
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Philippines
Total energy imports in 2024
$16 bil.
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Israel
Total energy imports in 2024
$3 bil.
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Brunei
Total energy imports in 2024
$5 bil.
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Myanmar
Total energy imports in 2024
$5 bil.
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Indonesia
Total energy imports in 2024
$35 bil.
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Armenia
Total energy imports in 2024
$535.9 mil.
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Turkey
Total energy imports in 2024
$26 bil.
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Hong Kong
Total energy imports in 2024
$12 bil.
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Uzbekistan
Total energy imports in 2024
$2 bil.
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Kazakhstan
Total energy imports in 2024
$628 mil.
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Yemen
Total energy imports in 2024
$23.5 mil.
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Azerbaijan
Total energy imports in 2024
$2 bil.
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Kyrgyzstan
Total energy imports in 2024
$1 bil.
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Jordan
Total energy imports in 2024
$641 mil.
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Cambodia
Total energy imports in 2024
$3 bil.
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Syria
Total energy imports in 2024
$131.2 mil.
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Bangladesh
Total energy imports in 2024
$7 bil.
In 2024, nearly 21 million barrels of oil a day crossed through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passageway connecting the Persian Gulf to the world. Four-fifths of that supply went to Asia.
China has long been the biggest purchaser of oil and gas from Persian Gulf nations. And with more than a third of its total supply coming from the region, the disruption is significant for Beijing. But other countries are almost entirely reliant on the region for their energy needs.
Pakistan has considered imposing a four-day workweek, and remote school and work, in order to preserve energy stockpiles. A state-led fund in Thailand, to subsidize the cost of fuel when prices surge, plunged into a deficit this month.
In India, where the economy depends on the Middle East for roughly 40 percent of the country’s oil imports and 80 percent of its gas, a shortage of cooking gas is squeezing households. And across Asia, fliers are being stranded because airlines running low on jet fuel have canceled thousands of flights.
Europe has been more insulated, sort of
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Greece
Total energy imports in 2024
$19 bil.
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Lithuania
Total energy imports in 2024
$7 bil.
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Poland
Total energy imports in 2024
$28 bil.
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Serbia
Total energy imports in 2024
$2 bil.
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Bulgaria
Total energy imports in 2024
$5 bil.
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Slovenia
Total energy imports in 2024
$4 bil.
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Italy
Total energy imports in 2024
$50 bil.
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Albania
Total energy imports in 2024
$931.9 mil.
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France
Total energy imports in 2024
$73 bil.
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Ireland
Total energy imports in 2024
$6 bil.
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Iceland
Total energy imports in 2024
$1 bil.
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U.K.
Total energy imports in 2024
$62 bil.
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Netherlands
Total energy imports in 2024
$105 bil.
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Spain
Total energy imports in 2024
$53 bil.
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Romania
Total energy imports in 2024
$8 bil.
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Denmark
Total energy imports in 2024
$6 bil.
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Ukraine
Total energy imports in 2024
$8 bil.
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Austria
Total energy imports in 2024
$10 bil.
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Germany
Total energy imports in 2024
$66 bil.
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Norway
Total energy imports in 2024
$5 bil.
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Portugal
Total energy imports in 2024
$10 bil.
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Moldova
Total energy imports in 2024
$1 bil.
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Cyprus
Total energy imports in 2024
$3 bil.
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Belgium
Total energy imports in 2024
$47 bil.
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Latvia
Total energy imports in 2024
$2 bil.
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Sweden
Total energy imports in 2024
$18 bil.
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Finland
Total energy imports in 2024
$10 bil.
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Estonia
Total energy imports in 2024
$1 bil.
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North Macedonia
Total energy imports in 2024
$902.7 mil.
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Croatia
Total energy imports in 2024
$6 bil.
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Switzerland
Total energy imports in 2024
$8 bil.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina
Total energy imports in 2024
$1 bil.
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Slovakia
Total energy imports in 2024
$4 bil.
Europe has traditionally been less reliant on the Gulf than Asia has been. It used to get most of its natural gas from Russia, but in recent years it has relied more on the United States and Norway. But the continent has had to endure one energy crisis after another in recent years, including from Russia’s war with Ukraine and the Western sanctions that followed.
Russia is the world’s third-largest producer of oil and second-largest producer of gas, and the sales of its energy products have been significantly restricted while Moscow continues its invasion of Ukraine.
This current crisis comes as European countries, confronting lackluster economic output, try to rebuild their industrial bases and fend off competition from cheaper Chinese exports.
Confronted with soaring prices since its attack with Israel on Iran, the United States temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil that is currently at sea, hoping to ease the global supply and markets in the process. The European Union has not made similar moves.
Parts of Africa will be hit hard
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Seychelles
Total energy imports in 2024
$308.6 mil.
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Mauritania
Total energy imports in 2024
$973.5 mil.
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Uganda
Total energy imports in 2024
$2 bil.
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Mauritius
Total energy imports in 2024
$1 bil.
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Kenya
Total energy imports in 2024
$5 bil.
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Egypt
Total energy imports in 2024
$16 bil.
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Zambia
Total energy imports in 2024
$2 bil.
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Namibia
Total energy imports in 2024
$1 bil.
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Malawi
Total energy imports in 2024
$476.1 mil.
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South Africa
Total energy imports in 2024
$18 bil.
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Tanzania
Total energy imports in 2024
$5 bil.
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Morocco
Total energy imports in 2024
$8 bil.
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Mozambique
Total energy imports in 2024
$2 bil.
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Madagascar
Total energy imports in 2024
$841.3 mil.
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Zimbabwe
Total energy imports in 2024
$2 bil.
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Senegal
Total energy imports in 2024
$4 bil.
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Nigeria
Total energy imports in 2024
$13 bil.
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Benin
Total energy imports in 2024
$398.4 mil.
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Angola
Total energy imports in 2024
$2 bil.
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Burkina Faso
Total energy imports in 2024
$2 bil.
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Tunisia
Total energy imports in 2024
$3 bil.
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Cote d’Ivoire
Total energy imports in 2024
$4 bil.
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Central African Republic
Total energy imports in 2024
$196.7 mil.
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Gambia
Total energy imports in 2024
$206.6 mil.
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Niger
Total energy imports in 2024
$113.6 mil.
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Lesotho
Total energy imports in 2024
$214.4 mil.
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Cameroon
Total energy imports in 2024
$424.4 mil.
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Libya
Total energy imports in 2024
$4 bil.
African nations, like many other countries in the global south, could feel the disruption unevenly. Seychelles, the island nation off the east coast of Africa, imported almost all of its energy from Gulf states in 2024. Mauritius has had a similar reliance, while Nigeria, an oil-rich state and a member of the OPEC Plus oil cartel, has traditionally imported relatively few fossil fuels from the Middle East.
But as the war continues, the impact is being felt beyond the imports of oil and gas. The Persian Gulf is a dominant source of fertilizer, partly because the region’s abundance of energy has spurred the development of factories that make the raw materials for many types of agricultural chemicals.
A sustained rise in the cost of fertilizer could force governments in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa to subsidize the cost of growing crops or otherwise watch food prices climb. That could add to debt burdens afflicting many lower-income countries.
The Americas and elsewhere are feeling broader economic shocks
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Argentina
Total energy imports in 2024
$3 bil.
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Brazil
Total energy imports in 2024
$28 bil.
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United States
Total energy imports in 2024
$233 bil.
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Paraguay
Total energy imports in 2024
$2 bil.
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Canada
Total energy imports in 2024
$31 bil.
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Uruguay
Total energy imports in 2024
$1 bil.
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Australia
Total energy imports in 2024
$37 bil.
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Dominican Republic
Total energy imports in 2024
$5 bil.
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Guatemala
Total energy imports in 2024
$4 bil.
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Chile
Total energy imports in 2024
$13 bil.
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Fiji
Total energy imports in 2024
$888.1 mil.
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Peru
Total energy imports in 2024
$9 bil.
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Honduras
Total energy imports in 2024
$2 bil.
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Ecuador
Total energy imports in 2024
$5 bil.
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Colombia
Total energy imports in 2024
$6 bil.
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El Salvador
Total energy imports in 2024
$2 bil.
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Costa Rica
Total energy imports in 2024
$2 bil.
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New Zealand
Total energy imports in 2024
$6 bil.
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Mexico
Total energy imports in 2024
$34 bil.
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Belize
Total energy imports in 2024
$235.5 mil.
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Bolivia
Total energy imports in 2024
$2 bil.
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Nicaragua
Total energy imports in 2024
$1 bil.
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Barbados
Total energy imports in 2024
$552.3 mil.
The United States is the world’s largest producer of oil and gas. That means the impact of halting the energy trade from the Middle East is much less severe.
But the United States and other countries in the region that do not import great quantities from the Gulf are still feeling economic strain. The jump in oil prices – to over $100 a barrel in recent weeks – has already weighed on other major economic factors.
The cost of gasoline has jumped by about a dollar a gallon nationally since the war began. American airlines have begun to cut flights because of fuel costs. Concerns about inflation have pushed mortgage rates to their highest level in three months, just weeks after they fell below 6 percent for the first time since 2022.
If the war drags on, or if oil and gas prices continue to rise, the damage will most likely grow, economists say. It is perhaps one reason why the White House has forcefully insisted that it does not need Middle Eastern oil — and is increasingly trying to use military force to stop Iran’s blockade of it.
Methodology
To calculate total energy imports for each country, The New York Times used 2024 international trade data from the Observatory for Economic Complexity and tallied the value of imports for a subset of energy-related goods. A share of imports from Gulf countries was then calculated from that subset.
The Gulf countries included are: Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The categories used were: crude petroleum oils (HS 270900), bituminous petroleum distillates (HS 271000), liquefied natural gas (HS 271111), liquefied propane (HS 271112), liquefied butanes (HS 271113) and liquefied petroleum gases (HS 271119).
