Could oil hit $200 a barrel? Analysts no longer think it’s far-fetched
Al Jazeera
Prices are likely to rise substantially if the Strait of Hormuz remains, in effect, closed, market watchers say.
Shortly after the United States and Israel first attacked Iran on February 28, analysts warned that war could drive oil prices above $100 a barrel.
Now, less than three weeks into the conflict, market watchers are seriously considering the possibility of prices surpassing $150 or even $200.
On March 9, the price of Brent crude – the global benchmark – hit nearly $120 and has not dropped below the $100 threshold since March 13. An Israeli strike on Iran’s South Pars gas field on March 18, prompting Iranian attacks on oil and gas facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, further pushed crude prices up on Wednesday to above $108 a barrel.
Analysts widely agree that prices have room to move much higher if the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for about one-fifth of global oil supplies in peacetime, remains effectively closed in the coming weeks.
The only real point of contention is by how much.
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