Energy as War: From Oil Fields to Cobalt Mines |
CounterPunch Exclusives
CounterPunch Exclusives
Energy as War: From Oil Fields to Cobalt Mines
Photograph Source: US Air Force – Public Domain
The energy analyst known as Doomberg recently remarked on the Decouple podcast that ‘all wars are energy wars.’ From the decisive role energy access plays in combat itself (think oil in World War II), to its infrastructure being an inviting target, and its spillover effects for the global economy, it is hard to argue with that sentiment.
Since the U.S. and Israel began this war with Iran, there has been the Israeli attack on Iran’s piece of the South Pars natural gas field, Iran’s drone attack at the Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar- Qatar produces 20 percent of the world’s liquified natural gas (LNG) and the damage at Ras Laffan is expected to reduce production by 17 percent for five years. It was a $50,000 drone that hit the plant (back in 2019, it was another Iranian drone attack that hit the Saudi Aramco facility at Abqaiq, the largest oil processing facility in the world).
Lest the war happening in Europe be forgotten, the same week as the attack on Ras Laffan saw Ukrainian drones hit the Arctic Metagaz, a Russian LNG carrier transiting toward the Suez Canal. About a week ago, Reuters reported that at least 40 percent of Russia’s oil export capacity is at a halt. If the report calculations are correct, the shutdown is the most severe oil supply disruption in the modern history of Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter.
With the Strait of Hormuz tied up, the shifts in the price of oil have been daily headlines. The price at the gas pump is certainly one thing, yet much of Asia is dependent on LNG from the Middle East for its energy and the blockade is forcing many countries to consider further ramping up on coal and turning to Russian oil. Coal already accounts for over 40 percent of Asia’s energy. In the Philippines, more than 90 percent of energy imports come from the Middle East. President Ferdinand Marco Jr. recently declared a national emergency and for the first time in almost five years, Russian oil arrived in the country. South Korea, which relies almost totally on imported energy, lifted its 80........