Middle East crisis fuels fears of surge in oil prices
Oil prices jumped by around four percent on Monday after the Hamas attack on Israel. Could an expansion of the conflict lead to a major oil crisis, as happened in 1973 as a result of the Yom Kippur War between Israel on one side and Egypt and Syria on the other? Or is our energy supply already independent and "green" enough to withstand such pressures?
Escalation could drive up price of oil
A widening of the conflict could have serious repercussions for the oil market, observes Új Szó:
“The Israeli government is preparing to wreak its revenge, and it is not out of the question that the counterattacks will extend to Iran. ... If Iran's role in planning the terrorist attack is confirmed, this could trigger new international sanctions. ... If, as a result of sanctions or military action, part of Iran's oil exports were to disappear from the market, it would drive up prices globally.”
Worried glances at a tense market
Trends-Tendances also takes a closer look at the role of Iran:
“Due to the US embargo, Iran is not a key player on the oil market, but it still exports about three percent of the global oil market. ... Three percent may not be much, but with the market as tense as it is right now, every percent counts. And then of course there's anxiety about the Strait of Hormuz, which is also controlled by the Iranians and through which twenty percent of the world's oil flows. What would happen if it were to be forcibly closed?”
Renewables are a blessing
Helsingin Sanomat thinks an oil crisis is unlikely:
“There are no indications that a crisis [due to oil prices] like the one which followed the Yom Kippur War might be in the pipeline. Yet the situation is certainly tricky because the global economy is just pulling itself out of a phase of high inflation and many countries are on the brink of recession. The parallels are there, but the shrinking dependence on oil and the decentralisation of energy production will prevent history from repeating itself. This crisis is further proof that the rapid growth of renewable energies is a true blessing. Although not perhaps for oil-producing countries and their ability to hold the rest of the world to ransom.”