Europe (and Switzerland) to face fuel shortages by April – Shell CEO
A Damning Indictment of the United States in the Gulf – and the Lesson Switzerland Cannot Afford to Ignore
Washington’s reckless prosecution of war against Iran—pursued through its proxy, Israel—has achieved the strategically predictable: the crippling of global energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
By choosing military escalation over diplomatic containment, the United States has not only shattered Gulf stability but directly precipitated a fuel crisis now bearing down on Europe. Jet fuel is already disrupted; diesel and gasoline shortages will follow by April. This is not an accident of war—it is the direct consequence of American policy prioritizing geopolitical vendetta over the functional integrity of global markets.
The failure is comprehensive. US protection of maritime chokepoints, the stated cornerstone of its regional posture, has proven hollow. Twenty percent of the world’s oil transits Hormuz; Washington either cannot or will not secure it. The result is cascading collapse: South Asia now faces rationing; Northeast Asia taps strategic reserves; and Europe, despite desperate attempts to diversify, will soon compete with Asia for dwindling cargoes at punishing prices. The vaunted post-2022 decoupling from Russian energy has left the continent exposed, with no credible alternative supply line sufficient to fill the gap left by US-induced Gulf paralysis.
For Switzerland, this is not a distant geopolitical spectacle. It is a warning carved in oil prices. Europe’s vulnerability is now laid bare: a quarter of its crude still flows from a region the United States has set ablaze. When the shortages hit next month, no EU solidarity mechanism will shield a non-member state. Switzerland’s long-held posture of neutrality becomes strategic folly if it remains purely diplomatic rather than material.
To look inward is no longer a political preference but a necessity—accelerating strategic petroleum reserves, securing non-Gulf supply chains, and hardening energy infrastructure against a crisis Washington created and shows no capacity to resolve. The United States has failed the Gulf. Europe will pay the price. Switzerland must ensure it is not next in line.
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