Iraqi oil production has slumped as the Iran war rages, with storage tanks reaching high and critical levels while the country is unable to export crude via the Strait of Hormuz, three Iraqi energy officials said on Wednesday. Output from Iraq's main southern oilfields has further fallen by about 80% to around 800,000 barrels per day (bpd), the officials added. Earlier this month, Iraqi oil production from its main southern oilfields had already fallen by about 70% to around 1.3 million [Read more]

Oil prices sank about 5% on Wednesday after reports the United States had sent Iran a 15-point proposal aimed at ending the war, prompting talk of progress toward a ceasefire and despite Israel and Iran exchanging airstrikes. Brent crude futures was down $5.66, or 5.42%, to $98.83 a barrel by 1022 GMT, after falling as low as $97.57. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down $4.82, or 5.22%, at $87.53, off a low of $86.72. Both benchmarks rose nearly 5% on Tuesday, before paring [Read more]

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said oil prices could reach $150 a barrel and cause a "global recession" if Iran "remains a threat" even after the war ends. "If there is a cessation of war, and yet Iran remains a threat, a threat to trade, a threat to the Strait of Hormuz, a threat to this peaceful coexistence of the GCC region, then I would argue that we could have years of above $100 closer to $150 oil which has profound implications in the economy," Fink told BBC's Big Boss Interview podcast [Read more]

Whatever the outcome of the Iran war, one question is already inescapable for the Gulf's energy-rich economies: is the U.S. security umbrella still worth the price? Since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, it's been its Gulf neighbours who have suffered most from missiles and drones that followed - tearing through energy infrastructure, damaging economies,and exposing the limits of a supposed U.S. security umbrella. That reckoning carries consequences far beyond the [Read more]

The Western allies trying to negotiate a way to protect the Strait of Hormuz for energy shipping face a stark reality: a similar effort in the Red Sea that started years earlier cost billions of dollars and ultimately failed against Yemen's Houthis. The costly Red Sea experience - four ships sunk, more than $1 billion in weapons expended, and a route that the shipping industry still largely avoids - looms over the more complex Strait of Hormuz, the shipping artery used by roughly a fifth of [Read more]