![\"Oil](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/e17cf4dc1ecbb9e95464903941bffe61.jpeg\")
Oil prices have rocketed above 100 US dollars a barrel for the first time in nearly four years as the escalating conflict in Iran sparks a mounting crude supply crisis. (Alamy\/PA) (Alamy\/PA) <\/p>\n Oil prices have rocketed above 100 US dollars a barrel for the first time in nearly four years as the escalating conflict in Iran sparks a mounting crude supply crisis. (Alamy\/PA) (Alamy\/PA) <\/p>\n
Oil prices have rocketed above 100 dollars a barrel for the first time in nearly four years as the escalating conflict in Iran<\/a> sparks a mounting crude supply crisis.<\/p>\n Benchmark Brent crude soared by 17% to more than 108 dollars a barrel, having at one stage reached nearly 120 dollars a barrel in levels not seen since the summer of 2022.<\/p>\n It follows Iran\u2019s move to name the son of its late supreme leader and a hardliner in charge as the war spreads further across the Middle East<\/a>, with Iran targeting regional energy infrastructure and blocking the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping route, through which a fifth of the world\u2019s oil is carried.<\/p>\n Stock markets are expected to slump in response, with Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 down 5% in overnight trading and further heavy declines expected across London and European indices when they open.<\/p>\n Chancellor Rachel Reeves<\/a> is reportedly set to join an emergency meeting of G7 finance ministers later on Monday to discuss a possible joint release of petroleum from reserves co-ordinated by the International Energy Agency<\/a> to help tackle the surge in oil prices.<\/p>\n Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading and investing platform IG, said: \u201cThe market is now facing its biggest crisis since Liberation Day, and arguably since Covid.<\/p>\n \u201cThe hubris of the US move on Venezuela has been followed by nemesis in its attack on Iran, and the election of a hardliner as Iran\u2019s supreme leader just makes a ceasefire less likely.\u201d<\/p>\n He said: \u201cStock markets have raced to catch up to all the news, but we are now looking at a vastly increased chance of a US and global recession as inflation surges.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile a co-ordinated release of oil reserves provides temporary relief, it is a limited response, and is dwarfed by the loss of oil output from the Hormuz closure and the shutdown of production in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n Oil prices are now around 60% higher than they were when the war started.<\/p>\n The cost of crude can have a significant effect on wholesale fuel prices, which is sending costs at the petrol pumps sharply higher.<\/p>\n Think tank the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit said its analysis of the historic link between oil and fuel prices shows oil trading at 100 dollars a barrel results in petrol prices of about 150p per litre, while oil hitting 120 dollars a barrel means petrol prices of about 170p per litre.<\/p>\n The RAC said the average price of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts was 137p on Friday, after rising nearly 4p since February 28 when the conflict in the Middle East started.<\/p>\n Average diesel prices were up almost 6p over the same period to 148p, which was a 16-month high.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oil prices have rocketed above 100 US dollars a barrel for the first time in nearly four years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[162683,41366,4414,105348,162686,42,47366,87,43,6807,162684,162685,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-329577","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-100-dollars","9":"tag-energy-infrastructure","10":"tag-energy-prices","11":"tag-fuel-prices","12":"tag-g7-finance-ministers","13":"tag-headlines","14":"tag-international-energy-agency","15":"tag-iran","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-oil-prices","18":"tag-oil-reserves","19":"tag-supply-crisis","20":"tag-top-news","21":"tag-top-stories","22":"tag-topnews","23":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329577","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=329577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} The Chancellor will reportedly join an emergency meeting of G7 finance ministers to discuss a possible joint response to the mounting oil supply crisis (PA) (PA Wire) <\/p>\n