World faces largest-ever oil supply disruption, says IEA

In an apparent escalation, Iran targeted oil tankers and a container ship, defying President Donald Trump's claim to have already won the war he launched two weeks ago

- Reuters

The war in the Middle East is creating the biggest oil supply disruption in history, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday, a day after it agreed to release a record volume from strategic stockpiles to offset shortages and a spike in prices.

Global supply is expected to drop by 8 million barrels per day in March, the IEA said in its latest monthly oil market report — a volume equal to almost 8% of world demand — due to the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow channel along the Iranian coast, since the US and Israel began airstrikes on Iran on February 28.

The outlook from the IEA, which advises industrialised countries, contrasts with its earlier warnings of a sizeable surplus on the market for the first quarter of 2026. It added, however, that supply could rise in April as some Middle East Gulf producers use alternative export routes to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, and said that, for the year, production would still expand more quickly than global demand.

Gulf production slashed