Oil prices have soared while share markets have skidded on fears that the escalating U.S.-Israeli war on Iran will squeeze energy supplies and hamstring industries around the world. Following are actions that governments are taking or plan to take to reduce the impact of the war on their economies. SOUTH KOREA PLANS FUEL CAP South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Monday that authorities would cap domestic fuel prices for the first time in nearly 30 years. The country will also [Read more]

Oil prices surged 30% last week and swathes of global stocks sold off as war in the Middle East escalated, yet an air of complacency hung over Wall Street. Investors have likely been betting that the turmoil will have a short-lived, mild economic impact, much like most crises in the recent past. Is this an efficient market at work, or wishful thinking? We'll soon find out. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 35% last week, the biggest weekly rise since the U.S. oil benchmark futures were launched [Read more]

The Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers will discuss on Monday a joint release of oil from emergency reserves coordinated by the International Energy Agency, the Financial Times reported. Three G7 countries, including the U.S., have so far expressed support for the idea, the FT said citing sources, and added that the ministers and the IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol will hold a call to discuss the impact of the Iran war. The report comes as oil prices surged more than 25% on Monday to [Read more]

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Wayne Cole. OK, so this is shaping up as a proper global energy shock, like the 1970's version. Though it is unique in being by choice, or at least the choice of one man. Brent cleared $100 at the open and never looked back, reaching a top of $119.50 so far. The crude benchmark is currently up 25%, which would be the biggest daily rise on record if it holds, and brings its gains since President Trump ordered the attack on Iran to [Read more]

Oil prices surged about 20% in early trade on Monday, hitting their highest since July 2022, as the expanding U.S.-Israeli war with Iran led some major Middle East oil producers to cut supplies and on concerns of prolonged disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. COMMENTARY: DANIEL HYNES, SENIOR COMMODITY STRATEGIST, ANZ, SYDNEY "I think prices have rallied this morning on the reports that Middle East producers are now reducing output due to storage facilities filling up [Read more]

Mounting miscalculations and a retreat to narrow self-interest by major countries, including the United States and China, are threatening to turn the current conflict in Iran into a global crisis for the supply of refined oil products. Much of the media focus tends to be on the price of crude oil, with benchmark Brent crude futures jumping as much as 20% to $111.04 a barrel, the highest since July 2022, in early Asian trade on Monday. But while the leap in crude is dramatic, of more concern [Read more]

Oil prices surged about 20% in early trade on Monday, hitting their highest since July 2022, as the expanding U.S.-Israeli war with Iran fuelled fears of tighter supply and prolonged disruptions to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran on Monday named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as Supreme Leader, signalling that hardliners remain firmly in charge in Tehran a week into its conflict with the United States and Israel. Brent crude futures rose as much as $18.35, [Read more]

Iran's Assembly of Experts has named Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country's new supreme leader, state media reported on Sunday. Mojtaba, a mid-ranking cleric with close ties to the powerful Revolutionary Guards, had long been viewed by elements of Iran's ruling establishment as a potential successor to his father, who was killed after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran. Although Iran's ruling ideology frowns on the principle of [Read more]

Trump administration officials on Sunday defended a decision to temporarily lift some sanctions on Russian oil and predicted that a sharp increase in gasoline prices resulting from the Iran war would last only weeks. Appearing on multiple TV talk shows, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said a waiver issued last week to allow Indian purchases of Russian oil would alleviate pressure on the global market. "It's a 30-day pause to allow, which is [Read more]

Iraqi oil production from its main southern oilfields has fallen by 70% to just 1.3 million barrels per day as the country is unable to export oil via the Strait of Hormuz due to the Iran war, three industry sources said on Sunday. Production from the fields stood at around 4.3 million bpd before the war. "Crude storage has reached maximum capacity and the remaining output after the major cut will be used to supply the country’s refineries," said an official with the state-run Basra Oil [Read more]