Right now, too much of the world’s energy still moves through too few chokepoints. That is exactly why the UAE made the decision more than a decade ago to invest in infrastructure that bypasses the Strait. And it is why we moved ahead with our second pipeline from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah in 2025. Today it is already 50% complete, and we are accelerating delivery toward 2027.
As a sector, we are dangerously underinvested. Upstream investment is sitting at around $400 billion a year, which barely offsets natural decline rates. Global spare capacity is around three million barrels a day. It should be closer to five. And in just two months, the world drew-down around 250 million barrels from storage. We have 30 to 35 days of effective cover. We need to at least double that.
Hormuz is not just an oil story. It is an everything story. Think about it: we are talking LNG, jet fuel, fertilizer, aluminum, helium, critical minerals, plastics, consumer goods and general cargo. In other words, the entire supply chain of the modern global economy, from the food on your table, to the planes in the sky, to the chips in your phone. Fuel prices are up 30%, fertilizer is up 50%, airfares are up 25%. Every farm, factory and family is paying the price. And the ones who are most vulnerable end up carrying the heaviest load.
One stat that really stands out: Just over 80 days into this conflict and almost eighty countries have now taken emergency measures to support their economies. This is not just an economic problem. It sets a dangerous precedent. Once you accept that a single country can hold the world's most important waterway hostage, freedom of navigation as we know it is finished. If we do not defend this principle today, we will spend the next decade defending against the consequences.