How Petrostates Have Accelerated the Green Transition
Before you shoot, check if you're aiming at your foot
Recent attempts by petrostates to use oil and gas as a geopolitical weapon have not preserved their power. It has shattered it. For the world, the prognosis is good.
For the past five years, the narrative from Riyadh, Moscow, and Tehran has been one of leverage. The logic was seductive: control the flow of energy, and you control the fate of nations. When Russia cut gas to Europe in 2022, when OPEC+ slashed production in 2023, and when the Strait of Hormuz was closed in early 2026, the intent was to extract political concessions and protect the fossil-fuel revenue stream.
They were wrong.
The weaponization of energy has done the one thing the petrostates feared most: the “security premium” attached to fossil fuels has risen so high that renewables now appear less risky by comparison. The very act of trying to strangle the global economy has accelerated its decarbonization.
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