Governments from Asia to Europe are scrambling to shield consumers from surging fuel and food costs triggered by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, rolling out measures ranging from fuel subsidies and price caps to emergency commodity releases.
Reuters reported that the conflict has halted a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supply from the Middle East and forced top regional energy producers Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iraq and Qatar to cut output in what the International Energy Agency termed the largest disruption to energy supplies the world has ever endured.
The benchmark international Brent crude contract settled on Friday at $102.90 a barrel, a 42% increase since the outset of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran at the end of February. The IEA is coordinating the largest-ever release of oil from emergency stockpiles and the United States has eased sanctions on Russian oil exports as a temporary salve for the supply shortage.
But countries most heavily dependent on energy imports are facing soaring prices and fuel shortages due to the disruption of shipping from the key Strait of Hormuz, where several vessels have been attacked as Iran uses its position at the narrow strait to blunt U.S. military power.
