Energy disruptions from the Iran war strain Gulf oil and gas exporters, while importers like Egypt and Jordan face higher commodity prices and reduced remittances from Gulf workers, worsening economic pressures across the region, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The US nearly became a net crude exporter for the first time since World War Two, as exports surged toward record levels to meet rising demand from Asia and Europe replacing disrupted Middle East supplies.
Opec lowered its forecast for world oil demand in the second quarter by 500,000 barrels per day, the producer group's monthly oil report showed in its first public assessment of the Iran war's impact on the market.
The sharp hit to global oil production from the Iran war is poised to flip the oil market into a supply deficit this year, analysts say, a huge swing in forecasts that erases previous expectations of comfortable oversupply.
The US Department of Energy said it had loaned 8.48 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to four oil companies, the second allotment under the Trump administration's effort to curb fuel prices that have surged during the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Sudan is emerging as an unlikely economic beneficiary of the geopolitical upheaval triggered by the Israel-US war on Iran, as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz force Gulf states to rethink supply chains and food security strategies now more than ever, according to an industry expert.
One week after the United States and Israel launched military strikes on Iran, plunging the Middle East into turmoil, President Donald Trump faces mounting questions over whether early battlefield gains can translate into a durable geopolitical victory, say experts.
Foulath Holding, an industrial holding company with major steel investments and the parent company of Bahrain Steel and SULB, has announced a force majeure situation affecting certain group operations as a result of the ongoing regional conflict in the Middle East.
Global air cargo rates have continued to rise strongly as stakeholders adjust to the dynamic and highly challenging conditions following the military attacks on Iran by the US and Israel, and Iran’s retaliatory strikes on targets in the region, said a report.
The US expects its operation against Iran to conclude within weeks, not months, and Washington can meet all its objectives without using ground troops, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after meeting his G7 counterparts in France.
