Brent crude futures rose $2.30, or 2.2%, to $105.44 a barrel by 0903 GMT

International News via Reuters:

Oil prices rose on Monday as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran continued to disrupt oil production and shipping in the Middle East, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for global efforts to secure the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures rose $2.30, or 2.2%, to $105.44 a barrel by 0903 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained $1.29, or 1.3%, to $100 a barrel.

Both contracts have surged more than 40% this month to their highest since 2022, after the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran prompted Tehran to halt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for energy shipments, choking off a fifth of global oil and LNG supplies.

Oil-loading operations have been suspended at the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah on Monday, two sources told Reuters, after a drone attack sparked a fire in the emirate’s petroleum industrial zone.

Fujairah, outside the Strait of Hormuz, is the outlet for about 1 million barrels per day of the UAE’s flagship Murban crude oil – a volume equal to about 1% of world demand.

The war in the Middle East is creating the biggest oil supply disruption in history, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday, as major oil producers such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the UAE reduced production since the conflict.

Investors seem to recognise that if just two weeks of disruption at the Strait of Hormuz have inflicted this level of damage on production, exports and refining, the consequences of a prolonged conflict would be severe, especially as inventories are steadily depleted, said PVM analyst Tamas Varga.

“U.S. strikes over the weekend on Kharg Island raised supply concerns, as most of Iran’s oil exports pass through it,” ING analysts said on Monday. 

While the strikes appear to have targeted the military, rather than energy, infrastructure, they still pose supply risks since Iranian oil is about the only oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz for now, ING said.

Over the weekend, Trump threatened further strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island, which handles about 90% of its exports, after hitting military targets there, spurring further retaliation from Tehran.

On Sunday, Trump said he was demanding that other countries help to protect the key energy route, adding that Washington was in talks with several nations about policing the strait.

The U.S. is also in contact with Iran, Trump said, but expressed doubt that Tehran was prepared for serious talks to end the conflict.

On Sunday, the International Energy Agency said more than 400 million barrels of oil reserves will begin flowing to the market soon, a record draw aimed at combating price spikes caused by the Middle East war.

Stocks from countries in Asia and Oceania will be released immediately, while those from Europe and the Americas would be available at the end of March, the agency said.

“As the conflict enters its third week, the lack of a clear denouement has left global markets increasingly worried about an uncontrollable escalatory spiral,” SEB’s Meyersson said.

Still, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday he expected an end to the war within “the next few weeks,” with oil supplies rebounding and energy costs falling afterwards.

Reporting by Enes Tunagur in London, Florence Tan and Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Shri Navaratnam, Clarence Fernandez and Pooja Desai

Carney has sought closer ties with China and Middle Eastern countries as well as India and Europe as he tries to reduce his country’s dependence on the United States

International News via Reuters:

Canada and the five Nordic countries said on Sunday they have agreed to deepen cooperation in military procurement and other areas, in the latest push by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to build new global alliances.

Carney has sought closer ties with China and Middle Eastern countries as well as India and Europe as he tries to reduce his country’s dependence on the United States and forge a trading order led by what he calls middle-power countries.

The push has found enthusiastic partners in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland – all countries with relatively small populations, export-led economies and military forces that cannot match the bigger powers on their own.

FREDERIKSEN: ‘WE HAVE TO BUILD SOMETHING NEW’

“The old world order is gone and will probably not come back,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters after a meeting of the six nations’ premiers in Oslo.

“So we have to build something new and it has to be a world order that is built on the values that we represent,” she said.

Frederiksen, who faces a tough re-election battle this month, praised Carney for his speech at the Davos World Economic Forum in January that called for what he called “middle powers” to join forces.

“People in Denmark – and I guess the same goes for the rest of the Nordic countries – have been talking about it; they have been reading your speech,” she said.

In a joint statement, the countries said they aimed to work more closely together on defence procurement. 

“We all agree that if we individually spend that money or we spend it in an uncoordinated way, it’s not going to be value for taxpayers. It also will not protect our people as much as we should,” Carney told reporters.

“We will still do a lot of procurement with the United States… but in all cases looking to procure much more in partnership,” Carney said.

The group reiterated their support for Ukraine, international trade, building green economies and enhancing Arctic security.

All have territories in the polar region and have condemned U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to take over Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said the effort showed the middle powers coming up with concrete proposals for cooperation.

“This is not about building new institutions. This is about what Prime Minister Carney calls a variable geometry,” he told Reuters.

“So … in certain areas we go together, we deepen cooperation with different participants,” he added, citing Australia, Japan and South Korea as other possible partners.

Additional reporting by Terje Solsvik in Oslo; Editing by Andrew Heavens

Gulf Arab states have faced more than 2,000 missile and drone attacks since the outbreak of the war on February 28

International News via Reuters:

Iran’s relations with Gulf states will require a “serious review” in light of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, limiting the power of external actors so the region can become prosperous, Tehran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia told Reuters on Sunday.

Asked if he was concerned that relations would be harmed by the war, Ambassador Alireza Enayati said: “It’s a valid question, and the answer may be simple. We are neighbors and we cannot do without each other; we will need a serious review.”

“What the region has witnessed over the past five decades is the result of an exclusionary approach [within the region] and an excessive reliance on external powers,” he said in a written response to questions, calling for deeper ties between the Gulf Cooperation Council’s six members, along with Iraq and Iran. 

Gulf Arab states have faced more than 2,000 missile and drone attacks since the outbreak of the war on February 28, with targets including U.S. diplomatic missions and military bases but also critical Gulf oil infrastructure, ports, airports, hotels and residential and office buildings.

The United Arab Emirates, which normalized relations with Iran’s arch-foe Israel in 2020, has faced the brunt of the attacks. But all Gulf Arab states have been impacted, and all have condemned Iran.

Behind the scenes, analysts and regional sources say there is also growing frustration at the U.S., long their security guarantor, at dragging them into a war they did not endorse but for which they are paying a hefty price.

In Saudi Arabia, attacks have been concentrated on the eastern region where most of the kingdom’s oil is produced, as well as the Prince Sultan Airbase hosting U.S. forces east of Riyadh, and the Diplomatic Quarter on the Saudi capital’s western edge, according to Saudi defense ministry statements.

Saudi Arabia and Iran re-established full diplomatic relations in 2023 after years of enmity that saw them back rival political and military factions across the region.  

IRAN ‘NOT RESPONSIBLE’ FOR ATTACKS ON SAUDI OIL SECTOR

Enayati denied that Iran was responsible for the attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure, including the Ras Tanura refinery on the east coast and dozens of attempted drone attacks on the Shaybah oil field in the desert near the UAE border.

“Iran is not the party responsible for these attacks, and if Iran had carried them out, it would have announced it,” he said. He did not say who had carried out the attacks.

Saudi Defense Ministry statements have not assigned blame for individual incidents. Enayati said Iran was only attacking U.S. and Israeli targets and interests. 

Enayati said he personally was in ongoing contact with Saudi officials, with relations “progressing naturally” in many areas. He highlighted Saudi cooperation regarding the departure of Iranians who were in the kingdom for religious pilgrimage and the provision of medical assistance to others.

He said Tehran was in contact with Riyadh regarding Saudi Arabia’s publicly stated position that its land, sea and air would not be used to attack Iran, without elaborating on the discussions. 

His message to Gulf states was that the war “has been imposed on us and the region.”

To resolve the conflict, the U.S. and Israel must halt their attacks and regional countries should not be involved, while international guarantees must be secured to prevent their recurrence, he said.

“Only then can we focus on building a prosperous region,” he said. 

Reporting by Timour Azhari in RiyadhEditing by Gareth Jones