Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war on Monday:
A Pakistani oil tanker transited the Strait of Hormuz with its automatic transponder system activated, monitor Marine Traffic said Monday, the first such voyage by a non-Iranian tanker since the start of the war.
Marine Traffic said on X that the 237-metre-long Pakistani-flagged oil tanker had a draft of 11.5 metres, indicating it was heavy and likely loaded.
International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol said more strategic oil stocks could be released if necessary to limit the fallout of the virtual blockage of supplies through the Strait of Hormuz owing to the war on Iran.
“In terms of government stocks and industry stocks held under government obligation, if you combine them, there will be still over 1.4 billion barrels remaining, which means we can do more later as and if needed,” Birol said in a video statement.
“The single most important thing for a return to stable flows of oil and gas is the resumption of transit through the Strait of Hormuz,” he added.
The UAE’s state-owned energy giant ADNOC halted the loading of oil into storage tanks at their Fujairah facility, a source with knowledge of the operations told AFP Monday, following repeated strikes on the energy installation.
Fujairah is home to a major port where Iranian attacks have already targeted oil storage tanks. The port is also home to a key oil export terminal just at the entrance of the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil prices rose initially but then fell back after news that a Pakistani tanker had transited the Strait of Hormuz. A barrel of Brent was down 2.8 percent at $100.25 after earlier in the day being up three percent while main US contract West Texas Intermediate fell 5.3 percent at $95.26. Wall Street’s main indices were higher in afternoon trading. Most European equities markets closed higher
Iraq is hoping to ship up to 250,000 barrels of oil per day to a port in Turkey via a rehabilitated pipeline that has been out of service for years, its oil minister said, after the US-Israeli war on Iran cut off its main export route.
The amount would be just a fraction of the roughly 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd) that Iraq exported before the conflict, mostly through its southern Basra port and the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic has been severely disrupted by the war.
Japan said Monday it was beginning the release of its strategic oil reserves after the International Energy Agency indicated earlier that the release would begin in Asia and Oceania before other regions.
IEA members agreed on March 11 to tap oil stockpiles to cushion the surge in prices caused by the war -- by far the largest-ever response of its kind. The IEA said releases in Europe and North America would start before the end of March.
Missiles and drone attacks struck across the UAE, with a drone-related incident sparking a fuel tank fire near Dubai airport that disrupted travel, while a missile killed a civilian in Abu Dhabi.
In the eastern emirate of Fujairah, a drone attack on oil infrastructure sparked a fire, days after an AFP journalist saw smoke rising from a major Emirati energy installation in the emirate.
The attacks came a day after Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said rockets had been launched from the UAE to attack Kharg Island. UAE officials have denied the claim.
Some of the world’s biggest central banks meet this week as fears grow the energy price shock unleashed by the Middle East war could fuel wider inflation and weigh on growth.
The US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England and Bank of Japan hold previously scheduled meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, with their comments on the conflict’s potential fallout set to be closely scrutinised.
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