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Oil Markets Are Starting to Take the Iran War Seriously

19 0
09.03.2026

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More than a week into what experts say is the largest energy supply shock in modern history, markets are finally awakening to the gravity of the threat that the Iran war poses to the global economy, with oil prices rising to triple digits (before falling back) and stock markets around the world plunging.

There is no immediate end in sight, with the United States still insisting on Iran’s “unconditional surrender” even as Tehran selected a new supreme leader believed to be even more hard-line than his father. Pain is baked in for weeks and months to come for developed and developing economies alike as prices rise for oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and petrochemicals. The only clear economic winner of U.S. President Donald Trump’s war so far is Russia, which has already seen some sanctions relief and is enjoying a windfall from higher oil revenues and demand for its once-forbidden crude.

More than a week into what experts say is the largest energy supply shock in modern history, markets are finally awakening to the gravity of the threat that the Iran war poses to the global economy, with oil prices rising to triple digits (before falling back) and stock markets around the world plunging.

There is no immediate end in sight, with the United States still insisting on Iran’s “unconditional surrender” even as Tehran selected a new supreme leader believed to be even more hard-line than his father. Pain is baked in for weeks and months to come for developed and developing economies alike as prices rise for oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and petrochemicals. The only clear economic winner of U.S. President Donald Trump’s war so far is Russia, which has already seen some sanctions relief and is enjoying a windfall from higher oil revenues and demand for its once-forbidden crude.

Oil prices skyrocketed in overnight trading, with benchmark prices hitting $120 a barrel, before settling down after reports that the G-7 countries would meet Monday to discuss the biggest emergency release of reserve oil stocks in history. In the end,........

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