The Iran war and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz highlighted vulnerabilities in the US energy system that Congress and policymakers should prioritize and fix, American Petroleum Institute (API) President Mike Sommers said at a June 22 energy security forum in Washington.

The supply crisis also made clear the need for greater worldwide coordination and for the US to prioritize energy security. "Hormuz is testing more than just markets. It is testing assumptions about supply, infrastructure, and resilience." Sommers said. “Every energy policy that emerges from this moment should pass a simple test: Does it help us produce energy? Does it help us move energy? Does it help us withstand disruption?" 

Sommers called on the administration and Congress to modernize the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to reflect current market realities, noting that the reserve was initially built in the 1970s for the import era. He urged reengineering the SPR to allow for larger daily withdrawals above its current 1.4 million b/d and adding additional sites, particularly in California and the West Coast.

“It is imperative that the administration systematically refills the SPR to blunt future supply shocks, whether geopolitical or weather-related,” Sommers added. SPR inventories are at 43-year lows of about 340 mil barrels.

Permitting reform

The disruption also reinforced the significance of infrastructure and permitting reform, API said. "The clearest lesson of this disruption is that producing energy is not enough. Energy must be able to move to consumers when and where it is needed," Sommers said. 

Sommers said he is “optimistic” that the House and Senate can pass a comprehensive bill before Congress becomes a “lame duck” ahead of the November mid-term elections. “There is room for a deal there if politics don’t get in the way, but it has to occur before the August recess,” Sommers told reporters after the event.

API’s energy framework underscores the importance of strengthening energy integration across the Western Hemisphere, expanding alternative export routes with partners in the Persian Gulf, and ensuring institutions such as the International Energy Agency (IEA) remain focused on their core mission of energy security, Sommers said.

"The Strait of Hormuz reminded us that too much of the world's energy still depends on a small number of routes and chokepoints," Sommers said. "At its core, this framework is built around a simple idea: More options. Fewer points of failure." 

Jones Act predictability

API wants more predictability in waivers of the Jones Act, which requires that only US-flagged vessels move shipments between US ports. A Jones Act waiver that began in mid-March 2026 due to the Strait of Hormuz closure is slated to expire Aug. 16. Unlike some oil analysts, API does not support repeal of the Jones Act because it recognizes the importance of US shipbuilding, Sommers said. “The Jones Act waiver process has worked, but a more transparent and predictable waiver process would strengthen energy security before the next disruption arrives," he said. 

Effects of Strait’s closure not over

Energy experts at the event noted that while crude oil prices dropped to near pre-war levels upon the June 18 signing of an MOU between Iran and the US, the full effects of the Strait’s nearly 4-month closure are not over. “We are only in the bottom of the fourth inning,” said Bob McNally, Founder and President of Rapidan Energy Group. The need to rebuild depleted global commercial and government emergency inventories and a potential demand rebound from China will likely keep markets tight for some time, he and other energy experts said.

“Energy security is the preeminent issue of today,” added Landon Derentz, Vice President of Energy and Infrastructure at the Atlantic Council, noting that he expects Iran to continue to “leverage the strait in the foreseeable future.”  The conflict made clear that all nations need to be better prepared and “more pipelines need to be built in the Middle East to avoid the Strait of Hormuz.”

Globally, one of the biggest takeaways from the Iran war is China’s ability to handle the disruption by drawing from its strategic oil stockpile and curbing demand, said Daniel Yergin, S&P Global Vice Chairman. “A big question is how much is demand disruption versus demand suppression,” Yergin said.

Joseph Majkut, Director of the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that analysts have little idea of Chinese oil inventory levels since the Strait of Hormuz closure and how much Beijing will purchase to replenish stocks.

The Strait’s closure made clear to many countries that they need to build bigger, and in the case of Asia, new emergency-energy reserves, McNally said. Countries have already filed applications with IEA to build new storage and join the coordinated release program, he noted.