Supply Shock
Illuminating a more resilient future
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz represents the largest energy supply shock in modern history, with Asia Pacific most impacted. This is not just a price shock, but a structural supply disruption that is unlikely to resolve quickly. Its impacts are already propagating through energy and financial markets, trade flows and value chains.
Asia Pacific is uniquely exposed. For businesses operating in the region, this is translating into supply chain disruption, increased cost, margin compression and shifting competitive dynamics. How long these factors will remain is highly uncertain but it is clear that this crisis requires shifts in operating decisions now and longer-term strategic recalibration.
In response to this, key sector-specific insights and strategic considerations have been developed to support organisations to chart a confident course to what’s next while navigating this immediate disruption.
Why Asia Pacific is uniquely exposed?
Asia Pacific’s supply of energy imports from the Middle East1
Oil transiting the Straits of Hormuz destined for Asia2
Project growth in 20263
The current global energy crisis is a flashpoint for pressures that have been building for several years: geopolitical volatility, concentrated supply chains and an accelerating, but uneven, energy transition. Together, these forces are reshaping the fundamentals of energy security and global trade.
For businesses and governments, this crisis should be viewed not as a temporary disruption to be absorbed, but as another signal that our energy systems need to be transformed. Strategic choices made now will shape resilience, competitiveness and growth for years to come.
Our sector insights examine how this crisis is reframing risk, resilience and opportunity across critical industries, outlines practical considerations and poses questions boards and executives could be asking themselves as they navigate uncertainty.
"For Asia Pacific, this is no longer an external shock to absorb, but a structural vulnerability that directly affects operating resilience, cost competitiveness and growth. The current crisis is not just about oil or immediate disruption. It exposes deeper global dependencies. This gives new impetus to the drive for strategies which strengthen resilience – to market, geopolitical and transition risks."
Will Symons, Asia Pacific Sustainability Leader
In responding to this crisis, businesses and governments have an opportunity to make strategic choices that manage disruption and build enduring advantage in a more volatile, contested and carbon‑constrained world.
[1] S&P Global, 2026. Asia‑Pacific's Energy Flows And Gaps In 10 Charts
[2] International Energy Agency, 2026. Strait of Hormuz Factsheet
[3] World Bank, 2026. Energy Shock and Uncertainty Slow Growth in East Asia and Pacific
