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  OTTAWA, ON, March 19, 2026 /CNW/ - We condemn in the strongest terms recent attacks by Iran on unarmed commercial vessels in the Gulf, attacks on civilian infrastructure including oil and gas installations, and the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces. We express our deep concern about the escalating conflict. We call on Iran to cease immediately its threats, laying of mines, drone and missile attacks and other attempts to block the Strait to commercial [Read more]

Goldman Sachs said on Thursday that risks to oil prices remain skewed to the upside both in the near term and into 2027. The bank added that the persistence of several past large supply shocks highlights the possibility that oil prices could remain above $100 per barrel. Benchmark Brent crude surged above $119 a barrel on Thursday after Iran attacked energy facilities across the Middle East in response to Israel's strike on its South Pars gas field, marking a sharp escalation in a war that [Read more]

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Thursday said in a post on X that President Donald Trump's administration has no plan to implement restrictions on oil and gas exports. (Reporting by Bhargav Acharya; Writing by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Ryan Patrick Jones) [Read more]

An overnight jump in oil prices on the heels of a hawkish Federal Reserve policy meeting has further narrowed the window for the interest rate cuts President Donald Trump has demanded and upped the odds that his nominee to lead the U.S. central bank may need to tighten borrowing costs early in his tenure. A recent escalation in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, with oil and gas facilities being directly targeted, drove benchmark crude prices above $118 a barrel before they fell back on Thursday [Read more]

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil is examining additional ways to relieve consumers from rising fuel prices due to the Iran war, including introducing a windfall tax on oil companies, his ministry said on Thursday. The money gained from the tax could be used to finance an increase in the commuter allowance, for example, among other measures being considered to lighten the load of low and middle income families, the ministry said. Germany is not facing an energy supply shortage, but as [Read more]

The U.S. may soon remove sanctions from Iranian oil that is stranded on tankers to help lift global supplies and reduce prices, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday. "In the coming days, we may unsanction the Iranian oil that's on the water. It's about 140 million barrels," Bessent told Fox Business Network's "Mornings with Maria" program. "So, depending on how you count it, that's 10 days to two weeks of supply," he added. Bessent said the addition of sanctioned [Read more]

Leading nations in Europe said in a joint statement with Japan on Thursday they would take steps to stabilise energy markets and were ready to join "appropriate efforts" to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The statement from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan, condemned attacks by Iran and called on it to halt its actions immediately. It also said they would work with certain energy producing nations to increase output and stabilise markets. "We [Read more]

Israel's attack on an Iranian gas field on Wednesday was coordinated with the United States but is not likely to be repeated, three Israeli officials said, despite President Donald Trump saying he did not know about it in advance. The attack on Iran's South Pars gas field drew an Iranian aerial assault on energy infrastructure in Qatar and across the Middle East, marking the biggest escalation in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. On Wednesday night, Trump said in a social media post that [Read more]

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday that the United States' objectives in the war against Iran have not changed since strikes started on February 28. The United States has carried out strikes against 7,000 targets inside Iran so far, and hit more than 40 Iranian mine-laying vessels and 11 submarines, according to the Pentagon. "Our objectives, given directly from our America-first president, remain exactly what they were on day one," Hegseth told reporters. "These are [Read more]