Record freight rates are only the visible part of the squeeze. Behind them, insurance is narrowing the pool of tankers able to move, more cargoes are travelling dark, and the disruption has begun to reach American retail shelves.
The East-West pipeline was built to protect Saudi oil exports from the Strait of Hormuz. Its shutdown last week exposes a deeper problem: much of the infrastructure meant to make the oil system more resilient can itself be knocked offline by drones.
