When the arteries of global energy constrict, the tremors reach every corner of the modern economy — and this week, the Strait of Hormuz has become that constriction. A cascade of production cuts across the UAE, Kuwait, and Iraq, driven by fears of a prolonged closure of one of the world's most critical shipping lanes, sent crude oil surging past $116 a barrel on Monday — its sharpest single-day rise in years. For Australia, a nation whose daily rhythms depend on diesel and whose markets are deeply woven into the Asia-Pacific fabric, the consequences arrived swiftly: $90 billion erased from th