{"id":325273,"date":"2026-03-06T17:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T17:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/325273\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T17:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T17:04:10","slug":"oil-prices-could-bring-down-the-economies-of-the-world-as-qatar-warns-prices-could-surge-to-150-a-barrel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/325273\/","title":{"rendered":"Oil prices could ‘bring down the economies of the world’ as Qatar warns prices could surge to $150 a barrel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oil prices could surge to more than $150 per barrel if the Middle East conflict continues, Qatar\u2019s Energy Minister has warned, raising fears of major economic disruption across the world.<\/p>\n

Saad al-Kaabi said such a dramatic increase in oil prices would have severe consequences for global growth and trade.<\/p>\n

Mr Kaabi told the Financial Times: “If this war continues for a few weeks, GDP growth around the world will be impacted.<\/p>\n

“Everybody’s energy price is going to go higher.”<\/p>\n

Crude prices have already climbed sharply during the past week.<\/p>\n

Brent crude is currently trading at around $85 per barrel after spending most of the year between $60 and $65.<\/p>\n

The rise represents an increase of nearly 20 per cent over the course of the week.<\/p>\n

Energy markets are now experiencing their most significant weekly surge since 2022 as the conflict in the Middle East creates growing uncertainty over global supply.<\/p>\n

Tensions have escalated further after Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

The shipping channel is one of the world\u2019s most important energy routes and carries roughly 21 million barrels of oil every day.<\/p>\n

\"Qatar\"\/<\/p>\n

Oil prices could surge to $150 if the conflict continues<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY\/Trading Economics<\/p>\n

This volume accounts for around one-fifth of global oil trade.<\/p>\n

Mr Kaabi warned that the disruption could worsen if energy producers in the Gulf region are forced to halt production.<\/p>\n

He said the suspension of production would push oil prices significantly higher.<\/p>\n

Mr Kaabi added that additional Gulf countries could declare force majeure in the coming days.<\/p>\n

Even if the conflict ends quickly, he said oil and gas production cycles could take weeks or months to return to normal levels.<\/p>\n

An Iranian drone strike earlier this week damaged Qatar\u2019s largest liquefied natural gas facility, highlighting the risks facing energy infrastructure in the region.<\/p>\n

\"Strait<\/p>\n

The 100-mile waterway connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and then the Arabian Sea<\/p>\n

| GETTY<\/p>\n

The surge in global energy prices is already affecting consumers in the UK.<\/p>\n

Petrol prices have begun rising in recent days as oil markets react to the escalating conflict.<\/p>\n

The RAC said that if oil reaches $90 per barrel, the average price of unleaded petrol at forecourts would exceed 140p per litre.<\/p>\n

At $100 per barrel, the organisation estimates motorists would face prices of around 150p per litre.<\/p>\n

Volatility in wholesale energy markets has also begun affecting the tariffs available to British households.<\/p>\n

Several energy suppliers have withdrawn fixed-rate deals from sale as companies respond to rapid price movements.<\/p>\n

There are growing concerns that the Ofgem energy price cap could increase significantly in July if the conflict continues.<\/p>\n

Gas prices have also surged sharply in recent days.<\/p>\n

Mr Kaabi warned that natural gas costs could rise dramatically if supply disruptions continue.<\/p>\n

He said gas prices could reach four times their pre-conflict levels.<\/p>\n

Such increases would place additional pressure on household budgets across the UK and other countries.<\/p>\n

Economists have warned that sustained increases in energy prices could have wider economic consequences.<\/p>\n

Higher oil and gas costs could push inflation higher and complicate efforts by central banks to lower interest rates.<\/p>\n

Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets, said energy markets are increasingly reacting to the risk of a prolonged conflict.<\/p>\n

\"StraitThe Strait of Hormuz is one of the most important shipping routes in the world, especially for oil exports | GETTY<\/p>\n

Mr Mahony said: “Oil prices have continued to rise, as we head towards the biggest weekly gain in four years as hopes of a swift resolution in Iran fade.<\/p>\n

“For markets, they are waking up to the possibility of a sharp increase in energy costs and inflation if this conflict runs on for weeks.”<\/p>\n

Mr Kaabi also warned that disruption to energy exports could affect wider trade flows between the Gulf and the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

“In addition to energy, there will be a halt on all other trade in between the [Gulf] and the world, which will have a significant effect on the economies of the [Gulf] and all the trading partners around the world.”<\/p>\n

Oil prices briefly retreated on Thursday after the United States indicated it could intervene to contain rising costs.<\/p>\n

Washington signalled it may take steps to stabilise markets, including measures allowing the Treasury to trade oil futures in an attempt to curb price volatility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oil prices could surge to more than $150 per barrel if the Middle East conflict continues, Qatar\u2019s Energy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,184,85,46,2101,43,52701],"class_list":{"0":"post-325273","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-money","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-sgg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}