The latest phase of the Iran war is locked on the Strait of Hormuz and critical energy infrastructure. Already, its effects are rippling thousands of miles away in Asia.

Asia is at the front line of the energy crisis, ​with shortages hitting nearly every country. Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, with some 80% going to Asia, according to the International Energy Agency.

As Iran refuses to open the strait, Asia is scrambling to mitigate disruptions and is being forced to take measures reminiscent of COVID-era actions.

Asia is especially susceptible due to its heavy import dependence, weaker currencies and large populations. And the impact has hit households fast.

The conflict has disrupted sectors from air ‌travel ⁠and shipping to gas supplies. People are struggling to cook and businesses across the board are bearing the brunt as liquefied petroleum gas imports slow.

A STATE-BY-STATE LOOK AT GAS PRICES AS IRAN CONFLICT PUSHES OIL HIGHER

Widespread disruptions have hit South Asia in particular, which is extremely reliant on Middle Eastern oil. India, which imports nearly 90% of its crude and about half its natural gas from abroad and is the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, has been left especially vulnerable.

Yesterday, President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on the phone, their first call since the Feb. 28 war broke out. In a post on X, Prime Minister Modi stressed, “Ensuring that the Strait of Hormuz remains open, secure and ​accessible is essential for the whole world.”

The Strait of Hormuz serves as a conduit for more than 40% of India’s crude oil ​imports.

This week, two tankers bound for India sailed through the strait. Vessels with ties to China, Pakistan and Thailand have also transited successfully, while several other Asian governments are in talks with Tehran to secure passage.

But a lot of these imports are expected to be used for non-power, industrial purposes such as fertilizer production, leaving the public left in the lurch.

In a new move that shows the precariousness of the situation, India’s Reliance Industries, which operates the world’s biggest refining facility, reportedly bought 5 million barrels of Iranian oil. The deal marks India’s first such purchase since 2019 and comes days after the U.S. temporarily lifted sanctions.

“All our kitchens run on gas and so, they’ve all been hit,” Indian hospitality veteran AD Singh told FOX Business. “We have been forced to stop serving several items and shorten our menus, doing our best given what we have. But people are worried and livelihoods are at stake. It’s not a positive feeling,” the founder and managing director of the Olive Group of restaurants said.

KEVIN O’LEARY FORECASTS GLOBAL POWER SHIFT IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ AS IRAN CONFLICT RATTLES OIL MARKETS

It’s a similar story in much of the subcontinent. 

Two of Asia’s most advanced economies have also been hit hard. But while South Asia feels it more at the household level, Japan and South Korea are facing a different kind of strain.

The two east Asian nations are being rocked by surging import costs, forcing factories to scale back and governments to tap emergency reserves.

Japan, which imports more than 90% of its oil from the region, has begun tapping strategic reserves. South Korea is weighing reserve releases and emergency support measures.

Unlike India, both countries have larger financial buffers and energy stockpiles, allowing them to cushion the immediate impact even though structural risks remain high.

Strikes are hitting many nations, like India, Bangladesh and the Philippines as frustrations grow. Online rumors are deepening the chaos and prompting panic buying. In a few countries like India, police are being deployed at gas stations.

As Asia grapples with this energy crisis, many countries are now turning back to coal and firewood to offset their gas needs. 

Induction cooking equipment is flying off the shelves in LPG-dependent India, and early warning signs are popping up elsewhere in the region. Energy shocks are now showing up on dinner tables as well.

 “It’s taking some time to get set on these new ways,” AD Singh told FOX Business.

AMERICAN DRONE COMPANY CHALLENGES CHINESE DOMINANCE WHILE PREPARING TROOPS FOR SWARM ATTACKS

Japan and South Korea are accelerating plans to boost nuclear energy.

Several Asian countries have also released petrol and diesel from domestic reserves, temporarily loosened fuel standards and stepped up domestic production.

Emergency regulatory steps are beginning to sweep the region, from severe austerity measures in Sri Lanka to strict fuel rationing in Bangladesh.

The Philippines just became the first country to declare a national energy emergency, warning of “an imminent danger of a critically low energy supply.” The island imports 98% of its oil from the gulf.

Meanwhile, China just dialed back on planned fuel price hikes in a bid to “reduce the burden” on the population.

Some governments are also weighing stimulus packages and energy-saving campaigns are flooding social media as record-high costs bite household budgets. 

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“Any scarcity of essential fuels has a cascading effect across the continent,” Singh told FOX Business. “When it comes to food, ingredient prices rise, operation costs increase and business volumes are affected. And with the news all over the place, people are spooked.”

New Delhi: Finance and corporate affairs minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday moved a bill in the Lok Sabha to amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, proposing a creditor-initiated framework with largely out-of-court arrangements to speed up bankruptcy resolution.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2025, also proposes frameworks for faster resolution of cross-border and corporate group insolvency cases.

Sitharaman moved the bill, as “reported by” the select House committee that vetted it, for the Lok Sabha’s consideration.

The amendments, the first since 2021 and the seventh since the law’s inception in 2016, introduce new concepts and streamline existing processes to reduce delays in resolving insolvent companies that erode asset value, experts said.

Between April and December 2025, the average resolution time rose to 764 days, excluding periods exempted by the National Company Law Tribunal, compared with 597 days as of March 2025. The IBC currently stipulates a 330-day deadline, including litigation time, for resolution. The proposed creditor-led resolution process will have a 150-day deadline. It allows a majority of unrelated financial creditors and the debtor to reach an informal agreement on a rescue plan, limiting the NCLT’s role to affirming the moratorium and approving the plan, experts said. Unlike the current system, the corporate debtor will continue to manage the company under the supervision of a resolution professional. Lenders will have the option to choose between the new framework and the existing corporate insolvency resolution process.

“The amendments mark the transition of the IBC to a new phase-from mistrust to trust, from regime punishing lack of governance to a regime motivating governance and from an adversarial approach to a conciliatory one based on coordination for insolvency resolution,” said Anoop Rawat, national practice head (insolvency and restructuring practice) at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas.
The bill proposes a framework, aligned with a model UN law, to enable creditors to handle cases where a bankrupt company has assets or creditors overseas, and to seek cooperation from other jurisdictions.

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Naturgy Energy Group, S.A. (GASNY) Shareholder/Analyst Call March 24, 2026 5:00 AM EDT

Company Participants

Francisco Reynés Massanet – CEO & Executive Chairman
Manuel García Cobaleda – Secretary of the Company and the Board

Conference Call Participants

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Fernando de la Camara Garcia

Presentation

Francisco Reynés Massanet
CEO & Executive Chairman

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Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. Thank you so much for being here. If you allow me, before I officially start this AGM, I would like to share with you a video that summarizes joint and in-depth work that we have done this year and after being shared and approved by the AGM has to do with our corporate purpose. Our corporate purpose has been defined as a goal that aims to facilitate the relationship that we all have with energy on a daily basis. By trying to improve the relationship with our employees, collaborators, public authorities, regulators, suppliers and especially so with the over 20 million customers that we have distributed through our geographies. So without further ado and before we officially start, allow me to show you this video that summarizes our commitment.

[Presentation]

Francisco Reynés Massanet
CEO & Executive Chairman

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Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, just like in previous years, I’m honored as the Chairman of the Board of Directors to welcome you to this ordinary AGM that the company holds, as we have in the past, both remotely and in person simultaneously. I would especially like to thank the presence of the members of the Board of Directors who are here present and also the representatives of the most significant shareholders. Especially this year, I have the honor of welcoming the representatives of Sonatrach, Mr. Eddine Daoudi and Mr. [ Atallah ] who are also with us here today. One more proof of that commitment and the fruitful relationship and long-lasting relationship we’ve had for over 40 years. Therefore, we officially open this

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to PDD Holdings Inc. Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today’s conference call is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your host today. Sir, please go ahead.

Unknown Executive

Thank you, operator, and hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. PDD Holdings earnings release was distributed earlier and is available on our website at investor.pddholdings.com as well as through the Globe Newswire services. Before we begin, I would like to refer you to our safe harbor statement in the earnings press release, which applies to this call as we will make certain forward-looking statements. This call also includes discussions of certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to our earnings release, which contains a reconciliation of non-GAAP measures to GAAP measures.

Joining us today are Mr. Chen Lei, our Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer; and Mr. Zhao Jiazhen, our Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer.

Our VP of Finance, Ms. Liu Jun, is unfortunately on medical leave. Delivering the prepared remarks today will be Mr. Li Jiong, our Finance Director. Jiazhen and Lei will make some general remarks on our performance for the past quarter and our strategic focus. Jiong will then walk us through our financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2025.

During the Q&A session, Lei and Jiong will

Shares of RPSG Ventures surged as much as 20% to their day’s high of Rs 721 on the BSE on Wednesday after United Spirits announced the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for over Rs 16,600 crore.

The RCB deal is being viewed as a key valuation benchmark for the IPL ecosystem, effectively resetting the valuation framework for other franchises. The ripple effect was visible in stocks such as RPSG Ventures and Sun TV, which own Lucknow Super Giants and Sunrisers Hyderabad, respectively.

According to Nuvama Institutional Equities, the $1.8 billion RCB transaction sets a new high-water mark for IPL franchise valuations. It implies a more than twofold jump over the $900 million valuation of the Gujarat Titans and is also higher than the Rajasthan Royals’ recent $1.6 billion valuation.

The brokerage noted that this reflects a sharp re-rating of IPL assets, with franchise valuations rising nearly 25 times since inception in 2008, driven by strong global investor interest, including private equity funds and US-based sports owners. Nuvama added that the deal establishes a strong benchmark for the sector and points to potential upside for other listed franchise owners such as Sun TV and RPSG Ventures.

RPSG Ventures is in focus as its 51% stake in Lucknow SuperGiants is valued at nearly 250% of the company’s own market cap, even after a holding-company discount.

The RCB franchise has been acquired by a consortium that includes the Aditya Birla Group, The Times of India Group, Bolt Ventures led by David Blitzer, and a Blackstone fund. The transaction, valued at about $1.8 billion, sets a fresh benchmark for IPL franchise valuations and highlights the growing appeal of T20 cricket assets.
Also read: Buy on the cannons, sell on the trumpets? How stock market investors can deal with Iran war stressFor United Spirits Limited, a subsidiary of Diageo plc, the deal marks nearly a 16-fold return compared to its original bid in 2008. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including approvals from the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the IPL Governing Council and other regulatory authorities. The BCCI will receive 5% of the deal value as a transfer fee.

The bidding process attracted strong interest from multiple groups. The winning consortium outbid a rival offer from Adar Poonawala of Serum Institute and Aditya Mittal of ArcelorMittal.

Other participants included Premji Invest alongside EQT, as well as a separate group comprising Ranjan Pai of Manipal Group, KKR and Temasek, which were involved in the early stages of bidding.

Also read: Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio in talks to offload individual investor stakes by 8% in upcoming IPO: Report

Financially, RCB reported revenue of Rs 504 crore and EBITDA of Rs 186 crore for FY25, according to United Spirits’ annual report. The franchise has already nearly matched those figures in the first half of FY26, posting revenue of Rs 478 crore and EBITDA of Rs 225 crore, surpassing the full-year FY25 EBITDA.

The Times of India Group is the publisher of The Economic Times.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)