Overview
- Igor Sechin said on June 6 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that U.S. energy companies were the main beneficiaries of the Strait of Hormuz closure and had gained “non-competitive advantages.”
- The closure followed reported U.S. and Israeli strikes in February and has left Iranian authorities exercising tight control over transits, with only selective passages allowed and major exports rerouted.
- Sechin said the disruption has pushed oil to multi-year highs, raised global inflation risks, and he projected prices near $95–$96 a barrel by year end, falling to $80–$85 within a year and normalizing by the second half of 2027.
- He warned that OPEC+ has weakened, saying the alliance’s production fell from 58 to 37 million barrels per day over ten years, and he reported Russia’s output is down about 1.5 million barrels per day and needs roughly ten trillion rubles in investment to recover.
- Sechin cautioned that other chokepoints such as Malacca, Bab el-Mandeb and Gibraltar face disruption risks and noted practical effects already seen in higher war-risk insurance, shipping costs and threats to food and fertilizer supplies for import-dependent countries.