Iran War Is The Largest Oil Supply Disruption In History, Report Finds

The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has triggered the largest supply disruption in global oil market history, according to a Thursday report from the International Energy Agency, as tensions escalate along a critical waterway for international trade.

The Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway responsible for carrying roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply, has seen oil and product flows plunge from around 20 million barrels a day to "a trickle,” the agency wrote. The price of oil has also “gyrated wildly” since the start of the war, the report read.

Rising energy costs have been a central focus of the Trump administration since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli operation in February. The White House has said it could offer naval escorts and political risk insurance for tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The president has also loosened sanctions on India’s acquisition of Russian oil.

Still, global oil supply will likely drop by 8 million barrels per day in March, according to the IEA, with “direct damage to energy infrastructure” also contributing to supply shocks.

“With nearly 20 [million barrels per day] of crude and product exports currently disrupted and limited alternative options to bypass the world’s most critical oil transit chokepoint, producers and consumers globally are feeling the strain,” the agency wrote in its report.

IEA member countries on Wednesday committed to releasing 400 million barrels of oil in an effort to stabilize supply and bring down energy prices. And U.S. Central Command is now striking Iranian vessels believed to be placing naval mines throughout the Strait of Hormuz.

But President Donald Trump on Thursday seemingly dismissed the market disruptions as having a dramatic impact on the U.S. economy.

“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” he wrote on Truth Social Thursday morning. “BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stopping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. I won’t ever let that happen!”