OPEC+ loses oil market sway in Iran war as China gains influence
Six months into the Iran war, the world’s most powerful oil alliance, OPEC+, finds itself in an unfamiliar position: unable to influence a market it once helped shape. The war, which has shut a major export route for Middle Eastern oil and damaged energy infrastructure in several OPEC countries, has eroded the group’s market share and, with it, its ability to affect prices. Its statements and policy decisions barely move oil markets anymore. Instead, cuts in Chinese crude imports have emerged as one of the dominant themes of 2026, helping to balance oil markets amid what analysts describe as the worst-ever supply disruption.