What are we going to do when global food prices go absolutely nuts and hundreds of millions of people are starving all over the planet? Even before this war with Iran erupted, world hunger was already at an all-time record high. Now, so much of the oil, natural gas and fertilizer that the globe is deeply dependent upon is trapped in the Persian Gulf. If this war drags on for months, it is inevitable that there will be massive price increases and rationing.
I realize that rationing is a very scary word, and it is not one that I use lightly. In Europe, it is being reported that fuel rationing may be coming a lot sooner than many Europeans think…
A fuel rationing warning has been issued as a major energy official shared the measures that could be taken as the war with Iran plunges the world into a deeper crisis.
The European Union is currently looking into “all possibilities” as it prepares for a “long-lasting” energy blow from Iran blocking a huge chunk of the global supply, the bloc’s energy commissioner revealed. Prices for all types of fuel, including petrol, diesel and jet fuel, have risen since the start of the Middle East war but the EU’s Dan Jorgensen revealed when the situation could soon start to deteriorate further.
Jorgensen said: “This will be a long crisis . . . energy prices will be higher for a very long time.” He added that “we expect it to be even worse in the weeks to come”.
Even if the war ended tomorrow, the damage that has been done to energy infrastructure in the Middle East would take years to fully rebuild, and more damage is being done with each passing day.
For example, a major oil refinery in Kuwait that supplies 38 percent of the UK’s imported jet fuel was just attacked by Iranian drones…
An oil refinery in Kuwait where jet fuel bound for the UK is produced has been struck by Iranian drones.
The Mina Al-Ahmadi plant was targeted by a “malicious drone attack” overnight, causing fires at “several operational units”, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) confirmed on Friday, as the Iran war goes on.
Kuwait is the UK’s primary supplier for imported jet fuel, providing 4.1 million tons – 38 per cent of the country’s imports – each year.
Supplies of oil, natural gas and fertilizer are going to get tighter and tighter, and prices are going to continue to soar.
If you can believe it, one gas station in California is already charging $9.99 for a gallon of gasoline…
In Los Angeles County, gas prices are inching close to $6 a gallon, but along California’s central coast, drivers are paying more than that to fill up their tanks.
A gas station, Gorda By The Sea, in Big Sur is allegedly charging nearly $10 per gallon. The owner said his premium gas costs $9.99 is because he’s limited by the number of digits on his pump.
People thought that I was being alarmist when I suggested that some gas stations could soon charge 7 or 8 dollars for a gallon of gasoline.
Where are those critics now?
I am even more concerned about how global supplies of natural gas are tightening, because we need natural gas to produce nitrogen fertilizer…
Why does a war in the Persian Gulf dictate the price of bread in London or corn in Iowa? To feed eight billion people, we rely on nitrogen fertilizers. Manufacturers forge these fertilizers by reacting atmospheric nitrogen with hydrogen. They get that hydrogen, and the massive amounts of power required for the reaction, directly from natural gas.
Although the region is not famous for its fertile fields, the energy-rich Middle East is a kingmaker in global agriculture. Nearly a third of the world’s fertilizer ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Qatar alone produces 15% of the global supply of urea — a solid, easily transportable nitrogen fertilizer — and controls a staggering 50% of internationally traded urea.
Spring is planting season for farmers all over the northern hemisphere, and they desperately need the fertilizer that is currently locked up in the Middle East.
If the war with Iran does not come to a rapid conclusion, it is poor countries that will be hit the hardest…
Rising energy, shipping and fertilizer costs fueled by Tehran’s stranglehold on the crucial Strait of Hormuz trade route are already being felt in the United States, but the sharpest consequences are expected to fall on poorer, import-dependent countries unable to absorb the higher costs.
Thousands of miles from the Middle East, in Brazil, South Asia and East Africa, even small increases in the price of growing and transporting food can deepen hunger and strain already fragile food systems, where millions are already struggling to afford basic staples.
Some nations import fertilizer directly from the Middle East, and others import natural gas and make their own fertilizer.
Without sufficient supplies of imported natural gas, fertilizer plants in nations such as India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are being forced to shut down…
The disruptions are halting production elsewhere, sometimes thousands of miles away from Tehran. Countries like India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan normally produce their own fertilizer using imported Gulf gas. Without that gas, their factories are going dark.
We have a real nightmare on our hands.
With 8 billion people living on the planet, having enough fertilizer is an absolute necessity.
One expert recently explained that if we didn’t use any fertilizer at all, about half of the population of the entire world would be starving…
The stakes of this chemical bottleneck are existential, especially for the world’s poor.
“If we stopped using mineral fertiliser completely worldwide, we would probably see half of the world starving,” Anthony Ryan at the University of Sheffield, UK, explained to New Scientist.
As I mentioned earlier, global hunger was already at the highest level that we have ever seen even before this war started.
Now the UN’s World Food Program is warning that a lack of fertilizer and natural gas could push global hunger way above the current all-time record high…
The World Food Program has warned that surging fuel and fertilizer costs, combined with shipping disruptions, could have serious consequences for global food security.
An extra 45 million people are projected to be pushed into acute hunger because of rises in food, oil and shipping costs, putting the global tally above its current record level of 319 million, WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau told reporters in Geneva last week.
“This would take global hunger levels to an all-time record and it’s a terrible, terrible prospect,” he said. “Already, before this war, we were in a perfect storm where hunger has never been as severe as now, in terms of numbers and how deep that hunger is,” he added.
In order to meet the definition of “acute hunger”, there must be a severe lack of food and immediate intervention must be necessary in order to save lives.
Hundreds of millions of others around the globe go to bed hungry on a regular basis, but they do not currently fall under the formal definition of “acute hunger”.
If we cannot get nitrogen fertilizer into the hands of the farmers before planting season is over, we will see a dramatic drop in production for annual crops such as wheat, barley and corn.
Just think about how many products that you purchase on a regular basis that include wheat, barley or corn.
These days, corn is literally used in thousands of different products…
“If you’re feeling these costs now, it’s only going to continue to increase as the supply chain fills with higher-cost goods,” said Lillibridge.
“Corn is used in over 4,000 products,” he added. “It’s not just food — it’s industrial products, like your paper that you would put in your printer has cornstarch in it, plastics, just tons of things have industrial uses from corn.”
On the other hand, a lack of nitrogen fertilizer will not have much of an impact on crops that do not have to be planted every year such as olives and grapes.
We have reached such a crazy moment in human history.
If you are able to grow a garden, this would be a good year to do so.
Because I have a feeling that this war is not going to be settled any time soon, and that means that there will be a whole lot of hungry people during the second half of 2026 and beyond.
Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.