The Strait of Hormuz carried 20 million barrels of oil per day before the war. Ian Wereley says that number is down 95%, and the knock-on effects are landing everywhere from hospital supply rooms to farm fields.

The strait moves more than crude oil. Ian Wereley tracks the full picture: natural gas, refined petrochemicals, a significant share of the world’s helium supply, plastics, and the fertilizers that keep food prices from climbing further. A company in Regina recently received a cease and desist for using helium on balloons because hospitals had priority. Ian Wereley says it is only going to get worse.

He also puts 20,000 international sailors currently trapped on ships inside the Persian Gulf as a number most people have not heard, and one that is quietly pulling vessels out of global shipping lanes at a moment when the world can least afford it.

Topics: Strait of Hormuz, Iran blockade, global oil supply, helium shortage, global shipping disruption

GUEST: Ian Wereley

Originally aired on2026-05-01