The Black Sand War was the most devastating conflict in the history of the Middle East, leaving vast swathes of land as chemically contaminated wastelands, primarily along the Euphrates River. Furthermore, Sadat's forces burned down the UAK oil fields, smoking up approximately 20% of the Fertile Crescent's reserves to cover their retreat and impede UN aerial operations. Much of the region's infrastructure was ruined in the fighting or demolished by retreating troops, though no city suffered as much destruction as Baghdad, brought down to cinders and chemically sterilised.
Such a grim situation has permanently scarred the economy, social structure and political makeup of the Middle East, but it also had profound international repercussions. Overall oil production figures tanked, and many wells beyond Sadatland's borders were burned dry. When the war ended Sadatland's portion of the oil cake became much bigger, forcing western nations to buy at enormously inflated prices or starve of energy. Most chose the latter, having just fought a bloody war against the mad tyrant. This situation prolonged and globalised what newspapers had been calling the Oil Crisis since the beginning of Operation Taqwa.
This dark economic outlook was not shared by the Soviet Union, Iran and Oceanyka, whose enormous petrochemical reserves forced them to embark on trade deals with the West, though they did give preference to allied energy-starved nations such as China. Much of their profits are being invested in the development of military, computational and nuclear technology, accelerating the East's trajectory by decades.