Energy is a military asset

In modern war, fuel, pipelines and shipping lanes are no longer just support systems; they are targets, bargaining chips and sources of cash. (eia.gov) Ukraine pushed that logic into public view in 2024 when it expanded drone strikes on Russian refineries and fuel depots far from the front. Reuters calculated in March 2024 that outages from those attacks had knocked out 14% of Russia’s primary oil refining capacity. (swissinfo.ch) The point was not only to start fires. The International Energy Agency said Russian oil export revenues fell to $11 billion in November 2025, down $3.6 billion from a year earlier, showing how export flows and prices feed directly into Moscow’s war finances. (iea.org) Russia has used the same playbook against Ukraine’s grid. The International Energy Agency said about half of Ukraine’s power generation capacity had been occupied, destroyed or damaged over 2022-23, and attacks intensified again from spring 2024. (iea.org) That made electricity a battlefield issue, not just a civilian one. Reuters reported on April 22, 2026, that nuclear plants had become the backbone of Ukraine’s power system after repeated strikes on thermal generation. (msn.com) The same pattern runs through the Middle East, where geography can move prices before a missile hits a well. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said 20 million barrels a day moved through the Strait of Hormuz in 2024, equal to about one-fifth of global petroleum liquids consumption. (eia.gov) Hormuz is not the only pressure point. The Energy Information Administration said the strait also carried about one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas trade in 2024, mostly from Qatar, leaving few easy alternatives if traffic is disrupted. (eia.gov) Farther west, attacks on shipping in the Red Sea turned another waterway into an economic weapon. The International Monetary Fund said in March 2024 that diversions around the Cape of Good Hope added 10 days or more to average delivery times after attacks reduced traffic through the Suez route. (imf.org) Egypt felt that loss in cash terms. Suez Canal Authority figures published in April 2025 showed 2024 canal revenue fell to about $4 billion from $10.3 billion in 2023 as Red Sea instability cut traffic. (euronews.com) The older idea that armies fight at the front while energy markets sit in the background fits less and less of the map. In Ukraine, the Gulf and the Red Sea, control over fuel, export revenue and narrow sea lanes now shapes how long wars can be fought at all. (eia.gov)