Two foreign oil tankers carrying Iraqi fuel oil caught fire after attacks that are still unknown in Iraqi waters near the port of al-Faw. This caused a sharp rise in global oil prices. The Iraqi government was able to get 25 crew members off the ships, but the fires continued to burn, raising concerns about supply problems in the ongoing US-Iran conflict.
There have been at least nine to sixteen attacks on ships since late February 2026, including ones in the Strait of Hormuz and near Kuwait. In Oman, drones and missiles have also hit fuel tanks and shipping lanes, forcing tankers to anchor carefully on both sides of important chokepoints. Iraq has cut its oil production by almost 1.5 million barrels per day because it doesn’t have enough storage space and can’t load the oil.
Brent crude and WTI benchmarks have gone up by as much as 16% since the war started. In the last few sessions, they have gone up by 3–4% as traffic has stopped in the Strait of Hormuz, which handles 20% of the world’s oil flows. If fighting continues, analysts say prices could go up again as refineries in Kuwait, Bahrain, and other places cut back on production. President Donald Trump said that the US Navy should provide escorts and insurance support to get shipping back on track and keep prices stable.
The conflict has closed ports like Dubai’s Jebel Ali and stopped LNG from Qatar, which has affected trade and energy supply chains all over the world. There isn’t a full blockade of the Strait yet, but insurance problems and retaliatory strikes between Iran, the US, Israel, and Gulf states mean that crude and gasoline prices will stay unstable around the world for a long time.
