IRAN vowed on Tuesday that not one litre of oil would be exported from the Gulf while its war with the United States and Israel continues, in a stark rebuke to President Donald Trump’s boast that the conflict was all but over.
Trump’s argument that the war would be “ended soon” helped reverse the Monday’s spike in oil prices, which have surged since Iranian attacks on shipping closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli strikes that killed its supreme leader.
The price increase also followed strikes on oil depots in Iran and after attacks on oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
After Trump’s comments, European gas prices opened 15 per cent lower, and Asian stock markets recovered from Monday’s slump and their European counterparts opened higher. But concern remains high.
Qatar, which has suspended LNG exports and sent European energy prices sky-high, said Iranian attacks on its civilian infrastructure were continuing, and the Israeli military announced a new wave of attacks on Tehran.
“There would be catastrophic consequences for the world’s oil markets the longer the disruption goes on, and the more drastic the consequences for the global economy,” Saudi oil giant Aramco’s president and CEO Amin H. Nasser told journalists. “It’s absolutely critical that shipping resumes in the Strait of Hormuz.”
As long as it takes
Egypt increased the cost of fuels by up to 30 per cent and Pakistan said it would provide naval escorts to commercial shipping. France has dispatched warships to the region.
AFP
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