Iran conflict spikes prices
The Iran regional war has pushed Brent to roughly $107–108 and U.S. crude to about $94 while Asian contracts trade near $160, after strikes on major LNG facilities and warnings of chokepoint risk — the Strait of Hormuz still handles ~20% of global oil and 20% of the world’s LNG flows. ( )
Iran’s state energy firm QatarEnergy said missile strikes hit Ras Laffan Industrial City on March 18–19, 2026, sparking “sizeable fires” and “extensive further damage” at the Pearl GTL complex and several LNG trains. (qatarenergy.qa) Market-data firm Kpler and several analysts put the initial outage at roughly 19 million tonnes per annum of LNG — equivalent to about one-fifth of global export capacity — and warned the disruption could last months. (kpler.com) Brent crude rallied, with benchmark futures reaching about $112.50 on March 20, 2026 as traders re-priced supply risk from Gulf disruptions. (tradingeconomics.com) U.S. benchmark WTI traded in the mid‑$90s over the same period, extending an unusually large spread between Gulf-linked Brent and U.S. crude. (oilcrudeprice.com) Traders and energy houses warned that continued hits to Gulf energy infrastructure could push global crude above $100 and that a sustained conflict would tighten markets materially. (bloomberg.com) Federal Reserve chair commentary and official statements linked the price shock to renewed near‑term inflation pressure, while some producers signalled plans to refill spot cargo gaps. (cnbc.com) Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been rerouting crude via the East‑West (Petroline) to Yanbu and the Abu Dhabi Habshan–Fujairah pipeline to keep barrels flowing to market, but analysts say alternative routes cannot fully replace volumes normally transiting the Gulf. (bloomberg.com) (cnbc.com) Washington has offered “political risk insurance” and floated U.S. Navy escorting of commercial tankers, but officials and defense analysts say a viable escort operation will take weeks to organize and has not yet restored normal transit. (axios.com) (news.usni.org)
