Oil and gas prices have resumed their upward trajectory following a series of unprecedented Iranian attacks on Middle Eastern production sites. Brent crude rose to $103.20 a barrel this Tuesday, while wholesale gas prices jumped to €52 per megawatt hour. This represents a stark increase from the €30 levels seen prior to the outbreak of the US-Israeli-Iranian conflict on February 28.
For the first time in this three-week war, Iran has successfully bypassed defensive measures to strike upstream production facilities. The UAE’s Shah gasfield, one of the planet’s largest natural gas deposits, was forced to suspend operations after a drone-led fire. Officials are currently assessing the structural damage to determine when, or if, production can safely resume.
The violence has also spread to Iraq’s Majnoon oilfield and the UAE’s Fujairah port, a massive storage and export hub. A maritime incident involving a tanker hit by a projectile has further complicated logistics in the Gulf of Oman. These disruptions have effectively neutralized the UAE’s primary export routes, leaving the nation’s energy sector in a state of partial paralysis.
Experts at Goldman Sachs suggest that while crude prices are rising, the impact on refined products like diesel and jet fuel could be even more devastating. The specific loss of medium-heavy crude supplies puts global transportation and aviation sectors at high risk of fuel shortages. This supply-side shock is already being felt across the Eastern Hemisphere.
In response to the tightening supply, several Asian governments have declared energy emergencies. Sri Lanka has shuttered public institutions on Wednesdays, while Thailand is encouraging citizens to avoid elevators and heavy clothing. These grassroots conservation efforts highlight the growing desperation of nations caught in the crossfire of the Middle East crisis.