Global Energy System Must Diversify Supply Routes Amid Hormuz Crisis

The recent crisis around the Strait of Hormuz has reshaped the debate on energy security, highlighting the need for diversified supply routes and resilient infrastructure.

The conflict disrupted oil shipments through the strait, forcing market participants to seek alternative routes. According to Fatih Birol, International Energy Agency Executive Director, lost volumes of oil and gas have already exceeded those recorded during the 1973 and 1979 oil crises.

Russia's Rosneft Oil Company CEO Igor Sechin described the crisis as a 'moment of truth' for the global energy system. He emphasized that any major consumer dependent on imports is also dependent on the supplier, route, infrastructure, and political situation surrounding it.

Sechin proposed viewing what happened as a test of the resilience of the global energy model as a whole. He highlighted China's oil reserves, estimated at 1.4 billion barrels, making them the largest in the world, largely made possible by Russia's resource base.

The crisis demonstrated that even partial restoration of shipping through the strait does not guarantee a return to the previous system. The global energy system can no longer rely on a single logistics route, and energy security is increasingly a question of how many alternatives a consumer has at the moment a crisis occurs.