Kuwait Petroleum Corp. CEO Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah says emergency measures aimed at offsetting the Iran war’s impact on oil shipping have not raised supplies “even a smidgen” to the level of normal exports.

Speaking in Houston at the annual CERAWeek energy conference, Al-Sabah said Iran is “holding the world’s economy hostage” through its attacks on infrastructure and choking off of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has struck Kuwait’s largest oil refinery, as well as the Shah gasfield in the UAE and Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial hub in response to the bombing campaign by the U.S. and Israel over the past month.

On the other hand, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in Washington that the Iran war could ultimately bring calm to the region, saying he sees the possibility that, “in the long run, this actually enhances the chance of peace in the Middle East.”

Dimon cautioned, however, that the risks remain severe in the near term, warning of potential terrorist activity and cyberattacks that could spill into global markets, speaking in an onstage interview at the Hill and Valley Forum in Washington, D.C.

Even as Iranian missiles score direct hits at adjoining hotels and office towers, the Dubai Mall is preparing to welcome Primark this week to its vast retail galleries.

Primark will open its largest Middle East store in the world’s busiest shopping emporium on Thursday, part of a three-store rollout with UAE partner Alshaya Group, employing a staff of 600, Arabian Gulf Business Insights reports.

Primark, a pioneer of bargain fast-fashion stores, will be sitting amid luxury boutiques operated by Prada, Gucci and Hermès.

Executives say prolonged instability could impede supply chains, but alternative routes and strong inventory levels are helping maintain operations for now.

Oil executives from the Gulf and around the world warned at the energy industry’s massive CERAWeek conference in Houston that the Iran war is inflicting potentially lasting damage, with disruptions to supply chains expected to take years to repair.

Iran’s effort to shut down the Strait of Hormuz is an act of “economic terrorism against every nation”, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC’s Group CEO, said in a keynote speech on Monday, delivered remotely.

Pointing to damage ADNOC facilities have suffered, including the Shah gas field, the Habshan gas processing complex and the Ruwais refining hub, Al Jaber said: “Our defenses have been tested. Our resilience has been tested. Our character has been tested. And we withstood.”

Other industry leaders, including TotalEnergies Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanne, warned that prolonged disruption risks fueling inflation, tightening global supplies and triggering broader economic fallout.

Closing the Strait of Hormuz also threatens global agriculture, as the passage carries key nitrogen inputs underpinning roughly half the world’s food supply, Chris Krebs, former director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, warns in the Financial Times.

Gulf states supply 49% of globally traded urea and 30% of ammonia, and any disruption could undermine crop yields in the months ahead, Krebs said.

The Gulf’s national energy companies are scrambling to keep critical oil and gas supplies flowing amid Iranian attacks on their refineries and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Aramco and other major exporters are working to ramp up alternative routes and taking measures to ensure plants can rapidly return to full production.

More than 40 energy assets across the Middle East have now been “severely or very severely” damaged in the escalating Iran war, according to the International Energy Agency, including extensive damage at Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, which houses the world’s biggest LNG export plant.

The attacks had knocked out 17% of Qatar’s LNG export capacity, causing about $20 billion in lost annual revenue, for three to five years, QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi, who is also Qatar’s Energy Minister, told Reuters in an interview. 

The disruption is equivalent to the two major oil crises in the 1970s and the 2022 natural gas crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “all put together,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said at Australia’s National Press Club in Canberra today. Global LNG exports have declined to a six-month low.

Adnoc Gas has resumed operations at Habshan, the UAE’s largest gas processing facility, after it was forced to halt operations following an attack last week, Bloomberg reports. Its LNG plant at Das Island is operating at very low levels because of the export bottleneck, but has continued producing to allow for a quick return to higher capacity.

Saudi Aramco is ramping up flows through its 1,200-kilometer East-West pipeline, rerouting some oil exports from the kingdom’s oil fields in the east of the country to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea, where more oil tankers are arriving daily and exports have passed 3.6 million barrels a day. 

Aramco CEO Nasser Amin withdrew from CERAweek, the major energy conference kicking off in Houston today, as he prioritizes dealing with the crisis. Nasser earlier this month warned of the “catastrophic” impact on global oil markets if the Iran war continues.

The impact of war with Iran is spreading far beyond oil markets and shipping lanes, forcing companies, conference organizers and sports federations to cancel deals and major international events across the Middle East.

Australian infrastructure giant Macquarie withdrew from bidding for a stake in Kuwait’s oil pipeline network in a deal valued at some $7 billion, Reuters reports. The project was intended to bring private capital into Kuwait’s energy infrastructure, but the conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have sharply raised the risk profile for Gulf oil assets.

Macquarie’s withdrawal is one of the first major examples of an international investor walking away from a Gulf transaction because of the war. Kuwait Petroleum Corp., which launched the pipeline sale shortly before Iranian strikes hit Gulf cities, is still seeking bids from other investors, though the conflict has already forced it to declare force majeure and reduce output.

The shock waves are also affecting the region’s conference industry. Organizers of major international gatherings in the Gulf are reassessing schedules as travel disruptions and security concerns mount, with some large events being postponed or shifted while others warn that further delays are possible if the conflict drags on.

Among the events affected is the World Petroleum Congress, one of the energy industry’s most important gatherings, which organizers said will be postponed because of the ongoing Middle East crisis. Arabian Travel Market, a flagship global travel trade show scheduled for May in Dubai,has been pushed back to August at the Dubai World Trade Centre as organizers try to ensure international participation and safety for exhibitors and visitors.

Major sporting events have also been caught in the turmoil. UEFA and CONMEBOL confirmed that the 2026 Finalissima between Spain and Argentina, scheduled for March 27 in Qatar, has been cancelled after organizers concluded that the regional security situation and travel disruptions made the match impossible to stage.

Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and CEO of ADNOC, meanwhile, said Iran’s actions represent a broader threat to regional stability that goes beyond a conventional military confrontation. “This is not a military exchange. This is an attack on a peaceful nation, a nation that has been working diligently and very hard for diplomacy,” Al Jaber told The Wall Street Journal.

Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE’s ambassador to the U.S., said the conflict with Iran is testing the resilience of international partnerships as governments coordinate responses to the regional instability. “The international community sent a clear message –  it will not tolerate attacks on our sovereignty,” Al Otaiba said in a statement posted by the UAE Embassy.

The UAE is considering action to ease tax residency rules for expats who left amid the Iran conflict.

Authorities may allow residents to spend longer periods abroad without losing their favorable tax status in an effort to encourage their return, The Financial Times reports.

The policy could be especially significant for Dubai, which has attracted high-net-worth individuals with its zero-tax appeal.

The adjustment reflects the UAE’s effort to protect its status as a global hub for mobile wealth and talent, the FT notes.

War-risk insurance premiums for ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz are still available, but they’ve climbed to record levels after Iran’s attacks on commercial vessels. 

Coverage now costs about 5% of a ship’s value, roughly five times higher than premiums charged earlier in the conflict, Bloomberg reports. For a tanker valued at $100 million, that rate implies an insurance bill of roughly $5 million for a single voyage.

The Strait of Hormuz normally carries about one-fifth of global oil shipments, making insurance coverage essential for tankers and other vessels transporting energy supplies from the Gulf.

The surge in insurance costs adds another financial barrier for shipowners weighing whether to send vessels through the strait that links the Gulf to global markets.

President Donald Trump has said the U.S. will make sure that ships are able to pass through Hormuz without saying exactly how. Details of a $20 billion reinsurance plan to help revive shipping are still unclear. 

Disruptions to Middle East airspace are forcing pharmaceutical companies to reroute cargo flights carrying temperature-sensitive medicines, raising concerns about delays to shipments of treatments, including cancer drugs.

Airlines are diverting aircraft around closed corridors over Iran and parts of the Gulf, adding hours to delivery times and complicating cold-chain logistics, Reuters reports.

Industry executives say longer routes increase the risk of temperature fluctuations that can damage sensitive biologic medicines.

Companies are now shifting shipments through alternative hubs in Europe and Asia while monitoring supply risks if the conflict persists.