Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf (also commonly known as the Arabian Gulf) is an extension of the Gulf of Oman. It is located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. The Persian Gulf has ample fishing grounds, extensive coral reefs, and abundant pearl oysters.
The countries around the Persian Gulf are sometimes known as the Gulf States. They are Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. Most of these countries have significant reserves of crude oil.
In 1991, the Persian Gulf was the background for what was called the Persian Gulf War (or "The Gulf War"), when Iraq invaded Kuwait and was subsequently expelled by American forces.
Economy
Urea and ammonia
The Persian Gulf is not just an energy hub. It is one of the planet's great fertilizer factories, and the Strait of Hormuz is how those fertilizers reach the fields that depend on them. The Middle East supplies close to a quarter of global urea exports; by some measures roughly a third of world seaborne fertilizer trade was put at risk when the US/Israel attack on Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. Iran halted ammonia production; Qatar suspended urea, ammonia, and sulphur output after the Ras Laffan damage.
The price response was violent. Urea climbed above $850 per metric ton in April 2026 — up around 80% from February and the highest level since 2022. World urea prices roughly doubled at the peak. Ammonia jumped nearly 40% in weeks, and about 24% of all global ammonia trade normally passes through Hormuz. Fitch raised its 2026 ammonia and urea forecasts by around a quarter and warned nitrogen fertilizers would be the hardest hit of any product category.
And unlike a price chart, the downstream damage compounded. India — which sources roughly 80% of its ammonia from the Persian Gulf — saw ammonia-based domestic production stall and lost hundreds of thousands of tons of monthly urea output as industrial gas was rationed. American farmers absorbed the shock at the worst possible moment, entering spring planting with fertilizer costs spiking and diesel above $5 a gallon. Because natural gas is around 80% of the cost of nitrogen fertilizer, the LNG disruption and the fertilizer disruption feed each other — a second-order effect. When fertilizer gets scarce and expensive, the eventual bill is measured in crop yields and food prices.
Sulphur and DAP
Sulphur is a byproduct of Persian Gulf gas processing and a critical input for phosphate fertilizers and countless industrial processes. With Qatari sulphur output suspended and regional supply choked, prices roughly doubled since the start of 2026. That fed straight into diammonium phosphate (DAP): DAP prices rose more than 10% in April 2026 on tightening supply and higher sulphur costs, compounded by China moving to restrict its own exports — China relies on the Middle East for roughly half its sulphur imports.
Disruption of the Strait of Hormuz did not produce one clean shortage; it produced a cascade through interlinked chemistry — gas into ammonia, ammonia and sulphur into finished fertilizer, export bans stacked on top of physical shortfalls.
Helium
Qatar supplied roughly a third of the world's helium, extracted as a byproduct co-located with LNG processing at Ras Laffan. The March 2026 strikes and the Strait of Hormuz closure took an estimated 30% of global helium production offline, with damage assessments suggesting some infrastructure could take years to fully restore. US distributors invoked force majeure, began rationing, prioritized healthcare customers, and layered on surcharges; spot prices spiked.
Helium cannot be synthesized. It is a finite, non-renewable gas with no substitute in its critical uses: semiconductor fabrication, advanced chip packaging, MRI machines, and the sealed interior of every high-capacity hard drive at a moment when AI-driven data-center demand was surging. Seagate and Western Digital reported full-year allocations and 20–30% price increases; South Korean chipmakers were reported to be running on roughly six months of inventory.
And every gram of Qatari helium leaves the country the same way: by ship, through the Strait of Hormuz. There is no pipeline alternative, no overland route, no bypass — helium's only exit from the world's second-largest production hub is that one 33-kilometer-wide waterway.