LONDON, April 7 – European and Asian refiners are paying record high prices of near $150 a barrel for some crude oil grades, far exceeding prices for paper futures, highlighting the worsening supply crisis from the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.
The Iran war has forced the shutdown of at least 12 million barrels per day – about 12% of world supply – from the Middle East due to Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. As a result, Brent oil futures reached $119.50 a barrel last month, the highest since 2022 although still short of the 2008 record high of $147.50. The nearby Brent contract is for June delivery.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/topstories/ar-AA20lYjU
The current oil and gas crisis triggered by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is “more serious than the ones in 1973, 1979 and 2002 together”, Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), told Le Figaro newspaper.
“The world has never experienced a disruption to energy supply of such magnitude,” he said in an interview with the French newspaper released in its Tuesday edition.
He said the European countries, as well Japan, Australia and others will suffer, but the countries most at risk were developing nations which will suffer from higher oil and gas prices, higher food prices and a general acceleration of inflation.
https://gulfbusiness.com/en/2026/energy/hormuz-blockade-worst-energy-crisis-iea-oil-gas/