NEW YORK – Crude prices surged Friday on mounting fears about oil supply disruption during the Middle East war, while equities retreated on poor US hiring data. The US-Israel war on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory attacks across the Gulf region have upended the world’s energy and transport sectors, virtually halting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

The international benchmark oil contract, Brent North Sea crude, surged to US$92.69 per barrel, up 8.5% for the day and nearly 30% for the week after US President Donald Trump said only the “unconditional surrender” of Iran would end the Middle East war.

The main US contract, West Texas Intermediate, soared more than 12% to over US$90 per barrel, topping off the biggest weekly gain on record.

Maritime traffic has all but dried up through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies run.

Market reaction to the conflict had been tempered by hopes that it would be short, but Trump’s demand for Iran’s capitulation increases the prospect of a long conflict.

Trump’s comments “dashed hopes that the conflict will be averted quickly, and the oil price has continued its push” higher, said XTB research director Kathleen Brooks.

The prospect of high energy prices for a sustained period has fanned fears of a fresh spike in inflation that could hit the global economy while curbing the ability of central banks to cut interest rates to prop up growth. “The longer that key energy infrastructure and shipping routes in the region are affected, the greater the chance of a significant inflationary impact,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould. – Nampa/AFP