What Happens If Gulf Producers Deploy ‘Nuclear Option’ To End Middle East War?

The shutdown of commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has suddenly handed Gulf oil producers enormous leverage over the escalating Middle East war. With roughly 15 million barrels per day of crude exports effectively stranded, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations could deploy what amounts to an energy “nuclear option”: declaring force majeure across their oil and gas exports and deliberately removing another 20% of global supply from the market. Such a move, unpacked in an opinion piece in Middle East Eye, would instantly…