Within minutes of the official White House announcement that U.S. forces had attacked suspected nuclear sites in Iran, the price of oil spiked in overseas markets, with Brent crude oil stocks rising by 11%.
More increases are expected in the days ahead, potentially sending the price of oil and gasoline in the United States up as much as 25% in the coming week.
“‘Fears that Iran could attack U.S. oil infrastructure in the region, and levy its power over the Straits of Hormuz could ‘combine to make prices and speculation rise about the security and dependability of supply,’ Greg Kennedy, director of the Economic Conflict and Competition Research Group at King’s College London told Newsweek.”
“‘Lack of clarity of how long this condition will last will also lead to hoarding or preemptive purchasing by other nations, so there are competition supply fears that will drive up prices,’ he added.”
An increase in oil prices would be good news for one of Iran’s biggest supporters, Russia, which stands to make millions more in revenue from oil sales. Ironically, a large portion of Russia’s oil is sold through markets in Iran, to avoid crippling sanctions imposed Europe and the United States as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Kennedy noted.
“This is making war in Ukraine last longer now as well as it gives [President Vladimir] Putin both political and economic ammunition to continue his war efforts and avoid the need for peace talks.”
Russia, it should be noted, is now suggesting it may provide Iran with nuclear weapons or facilitate the transfer of such weapons from other countries that are sympathetic to the Iranian cause. That could set off a nuclear race in the Middle East, with countries such as Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states of Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE wanting to acquire nukes as a way of countering the threat posed by Iran. In such a scenario, Israel would then be even more threatened than before the U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Recently, Donald Trump has bragged that the price of a gallon of gasoline is as low as $1.98 a gallon in some states, though that dubious claim has not yet been confirmed. And now, thanks to his foolhardy willingness to please Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump could be responsible for making a gallon of unleaded cost as much as $5 a gallon in the weeks ahead.
Great job, Donnie! You found yet another way to destroy the American economy.
