Kuala Lampur, May 5 -- With the recent exchange of words and fire between the United States and Iran, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz is not improving any time soon.

The Nikkei Asia report on Asean's shift toward alternative oil suppliers - from Brunei to Libya, even Kazakhstan, indeed, the United States too - signals a region that is adapting with urgency to a rapidly deteriorating global energy environment.

At first glance, this diversification appears reassuring. Asean is not standing still as the Strait of Hormuz becomes increasingly volatile amid the ongoing US conflict with Iran; with the Israel Lebanon conflict still not abating.

Thus the crisis surround the Strait of Hormuz, if not the Red Sea too, is spreading risk, sour...