Bangladesh, May 6 -- When Brent crude briefly surged past $120 a barrel amid renewed tensions around the Strait of Hormuz and the United Arab Emirates decision to exit OPEC, the market reaction revealed more than a temporary price shock. It signaled a structural shift in how global oil markets function. What is unfolding is not simply another cyclical spike driven by supply constraints or demand fluctuations, but the erosion of a long-standing framework that governed oil flows for decades.

For much of modern energy history, OPEC operated within a relatively stable geopolitical and logistical environment. Producers coordinated output through quotas, while global powers-primarily Western naval forces-ensured the security of critical mariti...