Although the ceasefire between Iran and Israel is holding, there have been new questions raised about a potential blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. To discuss the situation in the Gulf and the considerations that countries are making to protect their energy supplies, TaiwanPlus speaks with Ghana-based security analyst Fidel Amakye Owusu.
00:00What sort of implications are there for the globe if the Strait of Hormuz were shut now or at a later date?
00:06I would like to see that the region in question, that is the Persian Gulf, is a very strategic region for international reasons.
00:17That is, about 20% of global oil is supplied from the area.
00:22Saudi Arabia has so much oil, but much of its reserves or much of the drilling happens at that region, the coast, the Persian Gulf coast.
00:33And then other countries like Iran, Kuwait, Iraq all have their oil resources being moved in that corridor.
00:43So if it is closed, the Strait of Hormuz is closed, it goes to affect global market prices.
00:48And therefore, when there is any closure or there's any disruption in the region, it goes to affect global oil prices.
00:57And countries, both developed and developing, will be affected by that.
01:03For a country like Taiwan, where there is not a significant amount of oil and natural gas going through the Strait of Hormuz,
01:09but it would certainly still have an impact, what sort of considerations might leaders be going through right now?
01:15So these countries will then have to face some challenges because, I mean, trying to change your sources of supply is not that easy.
01:24It takes time.
01:25After years of cyber rattling between Israel and Iran, this is the first time we've seen actual exchanges.
01:34In the past months and a couple of years, we've seen, especially after the October attack in Israel,
01:41we've seen Israel and or Tehran and Israel exchanging missiles.
01:46But this is the first time there has been an actual war, the 12-day war, so-called, and it has not led to the closure of the Strait.
01:55However, in the future, it could.
01:57And so many of these countries that rely on energy resources from these streets are going to look for alternatives in the future.
02:05And I think they are going to look at new areas like in Africa and other places where new oil fines are being made and developments are following.
02:12So considering the geopolitical situation that Taiwan is and with Beijing having a lot of influence in Africa right now,
02:19do you think Taiwan might have difficulties finding alternative energy and oil field sources in Africa?
02:25I believe that sometimes the politics, the global politics is separated from the markets.
02:30In that if a country wants to sell its oil, it might not look at how Beijing sees a country before it sells its oil to that country.
02:38When it comes to diplomacy, it's a different ballgame.
02:40But when it comes to the markets, that could also be different.
02:44And so I think that no matter what, Taiwan will definitely get an alternative in the markets.
02:49And after all, countries such as the United States and others still recognize Taiwan at some levels.
02:56And I believe that could also make up for any gaps that could be created as a result of these tensions in the Persian Gulf.
