As I have reminded my readers on numerous occasions, our entire way of life is predicated on cheap energy, and the Middle East is the most important energy producing region in the entire world. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been paralyzed, and energy infrastructure has been under attack by both sides. In fact, this morning Tehran was "covered in thick black clouds of smoke" after a refinery and multiple oil depots were destroyed…

Even if traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was restored tomorrow, and that is not going to happen, the damage that has been done to energy infrastructure throughout the Middle East would take many months to repair.

It would be difficult for me to overstate the severity of the disruption that we are currently witnessing.

In neighboring Iraq, oil production has already fallen by 70 percent since the start of the war…

Oil production in Iraq has fallen by 70% since the war broke out, according to Reuters. The country is producing about 1.3 million barrels per day now, down from about 4.3 million before the war. Kuwait, another oil-rich Gulf state, has also slashed its oil production.

Unfortunately, production is also way down in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other nations in the region.

Most people living in the western world have no idea what this is going to mean.

The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States has soared over the past 10 days, but this is just the beginning…

According to AAA, the average price for regular unleaded fuel in Maryland on Saturday was $3.46 per gallon. This time last week, the price was $2.94.

The price of fuel in Maryland was above the national average. The country's average on Saturday was $3.41 per gallon of regular gas.

Maryland ranked 10th out of the 50 states and Washington D.C., for the most expensive regular fuel prices. California has the highest prices, with its average being $5.07 per gallon.

Of course the price of gasoline affects the price of so many other things that we regularly purchase.

We have already been experiencing a seemingly endless cost of living crisis, but now we could see prices escalate to an entirely new level.

The energy minister of Qatar, Saad al-Kaabi, is warning that the war in the Middle East "will bring down the economies of the world"…

"This will bring down the economies of the world," Saad al-Kaabi, Qatar's energy minister and CEO of its state-owned energy company, told the Financial Times on Friday. "If this war continues for a few weeks, GDP growth around the world will be impacted. Everybody's energy price is going to go higher."

Qatar, like all of the major oil and gas exporters along the Persian Gulf, has had to almost entirely halt shipments over the past week. Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz that links the Gulf to the rest of the world has been at a standstill as operators fear attacks and insurance companies cancel war coverage.