Renewed US military strikes in July have sent oil traders scrambling to reprice risk across global energy markets, reviving memories of March’s historic price shock.
Oil markets have been on a rollercoaster since late February, when the US-Israel coalition’s escalation turned simmering tensions into open conflict. The Strait of Hormuz, that narrow chokepoint through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes daily, became the epicenter of the crisis.
The biggest energy security challenge in history
When the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed on March 4, Brent crude prices surged more than 55% from pre-war levels of approximately $72 per barrel, rocketing to highs between $119 and $120 before the initial panic subsided.
The International Energy Agency called it the “greatest global energy security challenge in history.”
