DID Press: Javed Hassan, former chairman of Pakistan’s National Commission for Technical and Vocational Education, has warned that disruptions to strategic energy transit routes are driving up oil prices and maritime shipping costs, placing additional pressure on vulnerable economies.
Citing an analysis by Ashok Modi published in Frontline magazine, Hassan said that since September 10, physical crude oil had traded at a premium of $20 to $25 per barrel over futures contract prices. Shipping and insurance costs had added approximately another $34 per barrel, he said.
Hassan linked these figures to developments around the Bab al-Mandab Strait and what he described as the claimed control of the strategic passage by Yemen’s Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis.
The analysis also highlights France’s economic vulnerability to energy shocks, political deadlock and rising debt. In India, a combined fiscal deficit of 7.5% and concerns about the transparency of public accounts were identified as factors contributing to economic vulnerability.
The analysis argues that the consequences of what it describes as US wars of choice should not be measured solely by their direct physical destruction. Disruptions to energy markets, rising trade costs and weakened economic stability can also impose long-term costs on countries around the world.