Zoom in: Although prices have been rising modestly all week, oil traders straightened up this morning after President Biden acknowledged the possibility.
Iran, an Opec member, exports about half of the 3.3 million barrels of oil it produces each day.
Between the lines: Although most analysts say immediate supply disruptions are not likely in the U.S., today's market reaction reflects a growing fear among traders of a longer-term escalation.
Today's price spike for benchmark U.S. crude was the largest single-day gain since the early stages of the Israel-Hamas war a year ago, WSJ noted.
Yes, but: U.S. oil and gas production — already the highest of any country in the world — is at record highs, FT noted.
"The U.S. is the most prepared out of any developed [economy] . . . to handle a significant disruption in the Middle East," Hunter Kornfeind, an oil market analyst at Rapidan Energy Group, told the paper.
