An oil tanker has navigated the Strait of Hormuz on route to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to lift crude oil, marking one of the few voyages through the strategic waterway since regional hostilities disrupted shipping flows across the Middle East, according to industry sources and vessel-tracking data cited by Reuters.
The escalation of conflict in the Middle East following US and Israeli strikes on Iran has placed global energy markets on edge, Wood Mackenzie, a global leader in data, analytics and insights for the energy and natural resources industry, said, warning that oil and LNG prices are “heavily risked to the upside” if disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz persist.
In a special webinar about Middle East conflict and implications for oil and LNG prices that was held on 2 March, Wood Mackenzie said the scale of supply at risk dwarfs previous geopolitical shocks.
Rising military tensions between the US , Israel and Iran are disrupting oil and gas supplies across the Middle East, intensifying fears over global energy security and renewed price volatility.
QatarEnergy has halted production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and related products after military attacks targeted its operational facilities in Ras Laffan Industrial City and Mesaieed Industrial City in Qatar.
Global oil and gas transport costs have surged sharply, with supertanker rates in the Middle East climbing to unprecedented levels amid escalating hostilities between the United States and Iran, according to Reuters.
The benchmark TD3 freight rate (a standardized industry metric used to calculate the cost of transporting 270,000 tons of crude oil on a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) from the Middle East Gulf to Ningbo, China) climbed to a historic high of Worldscale 419 on March 2. This is equivalent to approximately $423,736 per day, according to LSEG shipping data. The rate has more than doubled since February 27, extending the gains from last week when prices had already surged to a six-year high.
Global oil prices climbed sharply as escalating tensions in the Middle East and disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz heightened fears of supply shortages, pushing crude benchmarks to their highest levels in several months, according to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC).
Eight OPEC+ member countries have agreed to begin a phased unwinding of their voluntary oil production cuts starting in April 2026, citing a stable global economic outlook and robust market fundamentals. During a virtual meeting held on March 1, 2026, the coalition, comprising Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman, decided to implement a production increase of 206,000 barrels per day (bbl/d). This move marks the initial restoration of the 1.65 million barrels per day (mmbbl/d) in additional voluntary adjustments first introduced in April 2023.
Iran has been sending radio signals to ships stating that no vessel is allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters. Ships navigating near the waterway have received very high frequency (VHF) transmissions from the Iranian force warning vessels against transiting the strait, an official from the EU’s naval mission Aspides told Reuters.
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, including Russia (OPEC+), are considering a major output boost on March 1 meeting, potentially surpassing the slated 411,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) increase. With Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) already ramping up exports after weekend strikes on Iran, the group is moving to stabilize the market, Reuters reported.
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) affirmed that its oil and gas operations remain fully operational, despite escalating regional tensions following reported US and Israeli strikes on Iran, heightening concerns over potential retaliation and broader instability in the Middle East.
