Sanne Manders, president of logistics technology platform Flexport, told the BBC the Strait of Hormuz is “effectively closed”.
It is partly down to carriers not willing to take the risk, but also due to “insurance companies not being willing to insure this risk anymore”, he told the Today programme.
He added that carriers were likely to start raising rates “for any shipping in the world” in anticipation of higher fuel prices.
Crude oil prices could pass $100 a barrel if the disruption to shipments is prolonged, Srinivaasan Balakrishnan from risk research firm Avellon Intelligence said.
He predicted that if it held at that level US petrol prices could rise by up to 25 cents a gallon.
US President Trump is facing concerns that the conflict in the Middle East could push up the cost of living.
He is scheduled to meet Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Tuesday to discuss the issue.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would announce plans to deal with rising energy prices.
“We knew that going in would be a factor,” Rubio said. “Starting tomorrow you will see us rolling out those phases to try to mitigate against that.”
The UK is also likely to see higher fuel prices if the cost of oil remains high, according to Alasdair Locke, chairman of Motor Fuel Group, the UK’s largest independent forecourt operator.
“With the price of oil going up, that is inevitably going to feed through in due course to higher prices at the pump,” he said.
“It will depend on how long and how high those prices go as to how high the price of fuel will be.”
As well as pushing up fuel prices, higher oil costs can also have a wider impact on the economy by making things such as transport and food more expensive.
If inflation – the pace of price rises – picks up, then this may make central banks less likely to cut interest rates in the months ahead.