Oil prices have surged past $100 a barrel amid the fallout from the United States and Israel’s war on Iran.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose by more than 30 percent on Sunday, at one point topping $119 a barrel, as fears grew of prolonged disruption to global energy supplies.
The surge marked the first time oil rose above $100 per barrel since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Oil prices dropped back to about $110 per barrel after The Financial Times reported that the Group of Seven finance ministers would discuss the release of petroleum reserves in coordination with the International Energy Agency.
US President Donald Trump, who campaigned heavily on cost-of-living concerns before the 2024 election, brushed off the spike in prices.
“Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!”
US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright also downplayed the prospect of rising energy prices earlier on Sunday, telling the Face the Nation programme on CBS News that any increase in prices at the petrol pump would be “temporary”.
Crude oil prices have surged by about 50 percent since the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on February 28.
Iran has brought shipping in the Strait of Hormuz to an effective halt in retaliation, threatening about one-fifth of the global oil supply.
Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, three of the biggest producers in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), have cut production amid an accumulating backlog of barrels with nowhere to go due to the effective closure of the waterway.
Attacks on energy production facilities in the region have further threatened supplies.
On Saturday, Israel carried out air raids targeting Iran’s oil infrastructure for the first time since the start of the war.
The strikes hit four oil storage facilities and an oil products transfer centre in Tehran and the province of Alborz, according to Iranian state media.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Sunday threatened to target energy facilities across the region in retaliation, warning that oil could soar to $200 a barrel if the US and Israel “continue this game”.
Credit: aljazeera.com
