Oil jumps; gold spikes

Brent continued to outpace other benchmarks, trading at about $112.33 per barrel on March 20, 2026 as markets digested regional supply shocks. (tradingeconomics.com) The gap between Brent and U.S. crude widened sharply — oil analytics flagged the Brent‑WTI spread near an 11‑year high of roughly $18 per barrel as global benchmark tightness outstripped U.S. supply. (oilprice.com) The IEA’s March 12, 2026 oil‑market report said crude and product flows that normally moved through the Strait of Hormuz — about 20 million barrels a day before the war — had fallen “to a trickle” and estimated Gulf producers had cut output by at least 10 million barrels per day. (iea.org) Iraq’s southern production collapsed roughly 70%, falling to about 1.3 million barrels per day after terminals stopped loading exports, industry sources told Reuters in early March. (stabroeknews.com) Major carriers including Maersk, Hapag‑Lloyd, MSC and CMA CGM suspended transits through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea and rerouted services around the Cape of Good Hope, per carrier advisories and industry reporting. (maritimenews.com) Rerouting via the Cape adds roughly 10–14 days to Asia‑Europe voyages and has driven sharp rises in voyage costs and war‑risk premiums — LR2 tanker premiums were reported as high as $900,000–$1 million on some Persian Gulf‑to‑Europe trips in recent months. (wcshipping.com) The regional maritime threat was officially raised to “CRITICAL” by the Joint Maritime Information Center after multiple confirmed strikes on merchant vessels in a compressed period, with several ships hit and crews evacuated in early March. (ukmto.org) Safe‑haven buying pushed gold to fresh records earlier in the year — spot gold breached the $5,400‑per‑ounce mark in late January — and central‑bank and ETF demand (January saw roughly $18.7 billion of global inflows into physically backed gold ETFs) sustained bullion’s elevated levels through the March crisis. (kitco.com)