As world leaders gather in New Delhi for the 2026 BRICS Summit, the expanded bloc commands up to 47 percent of global crude oil production and over 70 percent of proven reserves. This concentration of energy power provides an anti-Western economic shield, anchored by Iran’s strategic position near the Strait of Hormuz amid rising geopolitical tensions.
World leaders gathered at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on Saturday for the 2026 BRICS Summit, meeting as broader geopolitical conflicts placed the expanded 11-member bloc directly in the eye of an international energy crisis, according to a Firstpost explainer. The heads of state arrived as the conflict between the United States and Iran continued, leaving the Strait of Hormuz disrupted alongside fresh security threats near the Red Sea.
The expanded economic grouping now controls between 41 to 47 percent of world crude oil production and over 70 percent of proven global oil reserves following the inclusion of heavyweights like Russia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt alongside China, India, and Brazil.
How BRICS Transformed Into a Global Energy Titan
The original BRIC formation—consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, and later joined by South Africa—was conceived primarily as an investment concept representing fast-growing emerging markets. While energy was always a factor due to Russia’s status as a major exporter, the original group lacked the market concentration required to dictate global energy prices.
The recent expansion wave fundamentally rewrote that equation. By bringing the Persian Gulf’s heavyweights into the same fold as Moscow, the bloc united the world’s premier oil exporters with the world’s most voracious oil consumers under a single banner. China and India together account for the bulk of global crude oil demand growth, while Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the UAE represent the core of global export capacity.
In theory, this creates a closed-loop energy ecosystem where producers sell directly to consumers without requiring Western intermediaries, Western shipping insurance, or Western currency clearing systems. This consolidation gives the bloc an overwhelming presence within OPEC+, presenting a formidable structural challenge for Western economies battling persistent inflation, high interest rates, and fragile supply chains.
Iran’s Tactical Advantage and Sanctions-Resistant Networks
Despite decades of Western sanctions, Washington’s maximum pressure campaigns, and recent military strikes, Iran remains an indispensable component of the BRICS energy matrix. Having operated under heavy restrictions for decades, Tehran has pioneered sophisticated illicit and semi-official logistics networks, from ghost fleets of dark-market tankers to shadow banking mechanisms operating across Dubai and Guangzhou.
Russia subsequently adopted and expanded these very networks following Western sanctions over the Ukraine war, creating a shared energy trade infrastructure across Eurasia. Furthermore, Iran sits directly adjacent to the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s petroleum liquids pass daily.
As the conflict escalates, shipping disruptions in Hormuz and strikes near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait have driven global shipping insurance rates to historical highs. Tehran’s capacity to raise the cost of energy transport gives it asymmetric leverage against Western economies relying on steady, inexpensive energy flows.
Speaking at the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi on Friday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that the bloc was explicitly designed to counter unilateralism and resist economic bullying by Western powers. For Moscow and Beijing, maintaining Iran within the BRICS framework ensures that Western efforts to isolate Tehran fail structurally, rendering financial penalties increasingly obsolete in non-Western trade zones.
Internal Fault Lines and the Position of Saudi Arabia
While Iran actively uses the bloc as an anti-Western shield, Saudi Arabia’s posture remains vastly more cautious, representing one of the major internal fault lines of the expanded organization. Deep divisions between energy exporters and importers illustrate the ongoing difficulties in finding common ground.
As Brent crude hovers above $100 a barrel, the summit in New Delhi highlights both the collective leverage and the sharp internal friction defining the modern geopolitical landscape.
Keep reading