The bombardment took aim at military assets on the island, and has so far spared oil facilities. The war in Iran has effectively blocked the Gulf states from exporting a fifth of the world’s oil supply to the international buyers through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s attacks on tankers trapped in the vital trade route have erased an estimated 15m barrels of oil from the global market. The risk is that the world’s biggest oil producers will be forced to shut down many of their fields altogether, keeping prices higher for households and businesses for a sustained period. The threat to the Middle East’s oilfields is now considered the main driver for the upward march of market prices.

Source: Irish Examiner March 15, 2026 16:16 UTC