Effects of the Iran war are rippling beyond the Middle East and into the spending habits of American consumers, who are seeing price surges for gasoline and other items.
Energy prices have increased since the near-total shutdown in early March of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway that carries 20% of the world’s oil shipments and about 20% of the world’s seaborne liquified natural gas. Most of the oil is from Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Oil prices began rising March 3. In the United States, average gasoline prices hit $3.59 a gallon on March 11.
In response, the 32 nations of the International Energy Agency announced March 11 that they would release a record 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves to limit oil market shortages.
That's about four days' worth of global oil production.
