I mean, who could have predicted that a protracted conflict in the Middle East would affect oil prices? And yet, CNBC reports: Brent crude oil tops $101 to close at highest level since May as fighting escalates in Persian Gulf.
Crude oil prices jumped more than 3% on Wednesday as fighting between the U.S. and Iran escalates in the Persian Gulf, raising investors’ fears that energy exports through the Strait of Hormuz will fall.
[…]
The U.S. military destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers Tuesday in retaliation for attempted attacks on an American warship. The U.S. warship successfully evaded Iranian attack and no American personnel were harmed, U.S. Central Command said.
When I heard news yesterday about tankers being hit, I wondered about likely market effects. But as CBS News reports, it goes beyond that:
Yemen’s Houthis have seized the key Red Sea port of Mokha, according to military sources speaking to the AFP and Reuters. If confirmed, the move would make it easier for the Houthis to target ships transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial waterway for Saudi Arabian oil exports.
Plus, this means both a higher bill, in general, for the US, and likely retaliation.
Several U.S. fighter jets at a Jordanian military base were damaged in Iranian strikes on Wednesday, sources tell CBS News. Iran’s state media had previously said Tehran targeted U.S. assets across the region in retaliation for American attacks on Iranian oil tankers.
I continue to wonder how much damage we have actually suffered, as this administration has hardly been forthcoming on that count.
But, never fear, the war is almost over!
President Trump said Wednesday that Iran is desperate to affect the midterm elections and mused that the conflict would end right afterward. “I think the war will end immediately after the election, because they can’t hold out any longer,” he told reporters.
Well, that’s a relief.
Meanwhile, here’s GasBuddy’s national average for gasoline, which certainly makes me think that Joe Biden has some ‘splainin’ to do.
Fret not! Truckers and farmers don’t use unleaded for all that haulin’ and growin’; they use diesel!.
Wait.
What?
Via FleetOwner: U.S. diesel prices approach $6 as Iran conflict drives oil higher.
Good thing I don’t drive a diesel vehicle
Wait.
What?
Via Grist: What the record-high cost of diesel means for you.
All told, the rising price of diesel has cost U.S. consumers an additional $46 billion, or about $350 per household, according to a Brown University tracker. That’s slightly less than the impact of rising gasoline prices — at $55 billion — but the 61 percent jump in diesel prices has outpaced the 41 percent increase in gas.
Huh!
But seriously, who could have predicted it?
