President Donald Trump says he hopes the Iran War is approaching its end. Europe will certainly share that hope. Seven months of conflict have sent shockwaves through an already fragile global economy. Yet even if the guns fall silent, one brutal lesson from this war will remain. The world has allowed too much of its energy supply to depend on two narrow stretches of water.

The Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted since the war began in February. Now the other great artery linking the Gulf with Europe, the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the entrance to the Red Sea, has come under growing threat from the Iranian-backed Houthis. Oil has climbed above $100 a barrel. European consumers are once again discovering that wars thousands of miles away can arrive on their doorstep in the form of higher petrol prices, increased heating bills, inflation, and higher interest rates. But amid this gathering energy crisis, an unexpected player could offer part of the solution: Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al Zaidi has just completed an important European tour, visiting Paris and Berlin and meeting President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Energy was at the heart of the discussions. Al Zaidi’s message deserves close attention. Iraq can no longer afford to send the overwhelming majority of its crude through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. Neither can Europe afford to ignore the enormous reserves lying beneath Iraqi soil. Before the war, Iraq produced around four million barrels of oil every day. Baghdad now has ambitions to increase production capacity dramatically, eventually reaching between eight and 10 million barrels daily. That would place Iraq among the greatest energy powers on........

© Townhall