The spike comes as the U.S.-Iran conflict spreads across the Middle East, disrupting energy production and bringing traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route, to a near standstill. <\/p>\n
Qatar’s energy minister Saad al-Kaabi told The Financial Times<\/a> Friday that crude prices could reach $150 a barrel in the coming weeks if oil tankers were unable to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. This could “bring down the economies of the world,” Kaabi said. <\/p>\n “Everybody that has not called for force majeure we expect will do so in the next few days that this continues,” Kaabi told the FT. “All exporters in the Gulf region will have to call force majeure. If they don’t, they are at some point going to pay the liability for that legally, and that’s their choice.”<\/p>\n Stock Chart IconStock chart icon Crude oil prices<\/p>\n Crude prices are on track for their biggest weekly gain since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.<\/p>\n Prices briefly dipped overnight after the U.S.\u00a0issued<\/a>\u00a0a 30-day waiver to India \u2014 the world’s third-largest oil importer \u2014 to resume purchases of Russian oil. Washington had earlier imposed 25% “penalty” tariffs on India for buying Russian crude, which were revoked last month. <\/p>\n The retreat in prices also came after news agency Reuters, citing an unnamed White House official, reported<\/a> that the U.S. Treasury is planning to announce measures to curb energy price spikes, including potential interventions in the oil futures market. <\/p>\n The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline\u00a0jumped\u00a0nearly 27\u00a0cents since in the week to Thursday to\u00a0$3.25, according to data from U.S. travel organization AAA. <\/p>\n The war between Iran and the U.S. entered its seventh day on Friday. In a press conference on Thursday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. had “only just begun to fight.”<\/p>\n “Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation,” he told reporters.<\/p>\n Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsInflation boost?<\/p>\n![\"hide](\"https:\/\/static-redesign.cnbcfm.com\/dist\/a54b41835a8b60db28c2.svg\")
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