The Saudi East–West pipeline is particularly important because it was one of the major routes allowing crude to avoid the disrupted Strait of Hormuz. Its temporary shutdown adds another potential bottleneck at precisely the wrong time. The Houthi advance creates a second problem: Bab el-Mandeb controls access between the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. Reuters describes Iran-aligned Houthi gains as creating a new challenge for global shipping while Hormuz is already destabilised.


Energy/refining/nuclear/defence: likely relative winners.
Airlines/logistics/chemicals/discretionary/Asian energy importers: losers


After sticky CPI and the energy shock, the question is no longer simply whether the Fed changes rates; it is the balance between energy-driven inflation + resilient labour demand + weakening consumer confidence.


Google’s recent €13B Finnish AI investment includes a 22-year agreement to buy up to half of the output of Fortum’s Loviisa nuclear plant is a show of this.