World

SINGAPORE — Singapore has established a fuel stockpile comprising gas and diesel that power generation companies can use should gas supplies be severely disrupted due to the ongoing conflict in West Asia.

Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science and Technology Tan See Leng said the measure is one of the government’s multiple lines of defence to safeguard Singapore’s energy security.

Nevertheless, he noted that while some measures are in place to ensure Singapore has sufficient energy, global gas prices continue to rise due to the conflict.

“We must therefore expect electricity prices to increase in the coming months.

“Households and businesses have a part to play because they can offset some of this impact by conserving electricity and adopting more energy-efficient appliances,” he said in a Facebook post on Thursday.

Tan emphasised that as the global environment becomes less certain and stable, fuel disruptions and price fluctuations are becoming more frequent.

These effects are felt in Singapore, which imports all of the natural gas needed to fuel about 95 per cent of its electricity generation, he added.

In the meantime, Tan stressed that the government stands ready to support households and businesses as necessary.

“Announced at Budget 2026, eligible Housing and Development Board (HDB) households will receive 1.5 times the regular amount of U-Save rebates, or up to S$570 (S$1=RM3.06) in the financial year.

“As the situation in West Asia is evolving, we are watching closely, especially for secondary effects of disruption,” he noted. — BERNAMA

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HONG KONG — Oil prices soared back above $100 Thursday as Iran’s fresh attempts to hit supplies in the Middle East and threats to bring down the global economy overshadowed a record release of strategic crude by the International Energy Agency.

As the US-Israel strikes on the Islamic republic approached their third week, the conflict showed no signs of letting up with Tehran responding with more retaliatory attacks across the Gulf.

The IEA said Wednesday that its members had agreed to unlock 400 million barrels of oil from their reserves — their largest release ever — with 172 million coming from the United States.

However, the move was unable to overcome fears about the choking of energy supplies from the Middle East, with the Strait of Hormuz — through which a fifth of global crude passes — effectively shut down.

As Iran steps up attempts to disrupt supplies across the region, two tankers in Iraqi waters were reported struck Thursday. Baghdad had already said it was cutting output because of the crisis, with Kuwait and kingpin Saudi Arabia following suit.

Also Thursday, Bahrain reported Iran had carried out an attack on fuel tanks in the country, while Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted drones headed to Shaybah oil field.

Both main crude contracts soared. Brent jumped more than nine percent to hit as high as $101.59 a barrel, while WTI spiked at just short of $96. The two had rocketed as much as 30 percent Monday to a peak of nearly $120.

And with hostilities showing no sign of ending, analysts warned $90-$100 a barrel could be the new normal for a while.

Iran said it was ready for a long war of attrition that would “destroy” the world economy, after firing on two commercial ships and threatening any vessels from the United States or its allies.

The Revolutionary Guards warned Wednesday they would strike “economic centres and banks” linked to US and Israeli interests.

The United States and Israel “must consider the possibility that they will be engaged in a long-term war of attrition that will destroy the entire American economy and the world economy”, Ali Fadavi, an adviser to the Guards’ commander-in-chief, told state television.

Stocks in retreat

Analysts warn that a prolonged disruption to shipping through the strait — which also carries roughly a third of the fertiliser used in global food production — would deliver a severe economic shock, particularly in Asia and Europe.

Among those badly hit are airlines, with many having to rethink flights through the Middle East, while the rising cost of fuel hits their bottom line. Air New Zealand said Thursday it would cut 1,100 flights over the next two months.

The surge in oil prices has fanned fresh fears about another spike in inflation and warnings that central banks might have to hike interest rates again, having been contemplating cuts just last month.

That has weighed on equities, which resumed their retreat Thursday.

Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Bangkok, Wellington, Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta were all deep in the red.

“For traders, this is not a contradiction but a familiar pattern,” said

“When the geopolitical fire alarm is still ringing around the Strait of Hormuz, dumping barrels from emergency stockpiles is less a solution than a symbolic gesture,” wrote Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.

“It might dampen volatility for a few hours but it cannot change the geometry of risk when the world’s most important shipping artery is under threat.

“In trading desk language, the IEA release is the equivalent of pointing a garden hose at a refinery blaze.”

Saxo Markets’ Neil Wilson pointed out that the move had already largely been priced in by investors, helping oil retreat below $100 earlier in the week, while Trump’s remarks on ending the war early had also played a role in keeping prices down.

He added that the war had already caused the loss of around 200 million barrels.

And, he said, “reserves are stockpiles sitting as existing inventory — the market is more concerned about flows. Moving barrels from point A to point B is not the same as producing new oil”.

Still, Trump reiterated his insistence that the strikes had already practically defeated Iran.

“They are pretty much at the end of the line,” he told reporters, after delivering a speech to supporters in which he declared: “We’ve won… we won — in the first hour it was over.”

Israel’s military, however, signalled the campaign was far from finished, and that it still had “a broad bank of targets.”

Key figures at around 0330 GMT

West Texas Intermediate: UP 8.6 percent at $94.72 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 9.0 percent at $100.29 per barrel

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 2.1 percent at 53,889.20

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.2 percent at 25,576.39

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.6 percent at 4,106.96 (break)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1537 from $1.1574 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3370 from $1.3419

Dollar/yen: UP at 159.03 yen from 158.92 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 86.29 pence from 86.25 pence

New York – Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 47,417.27 (close)

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 10,353.77 (close) — AFP

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BANGKOK — Three crew members were “believed to be trapped” aboard a Thai bulk carrier that was hit by two projectiles on Wednesday while travelling through the crucial Strait of Hormuz, the vessel’s owner said.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday they had struck the Thai-registered Mayuree Naree, as well as a Liberia-flagged vessel, in the strait because the ships had ignored “warnings”.

The Thai ship was struck Wednesday morning while transiting through the Gulf waterway, after departing Khalifa port in the United Arab Emirates.

“The strikes damaged the Vessel’s engine room and caused a fire,” Thai transport company Precious Shipping said in a statement Wednesday evening.

“Three crew members are reported missing and believed to be trapped in the engine room,” it said, adding that authorities were working to rescue them.

The Omani navy had rescued 20 sailors and efforts were underway to rescue the remaining three, the Thai navy said Wednesday.

Thailand’s foreign ministry said all 23 crew members were Thai.

Since strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran in late February ignited the Middle East war, the Islamic republic has launched its own attacks against its oil-exporting neighbours.

The strikes have threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and plunged the global energy economy into crisis.

The strait is a crucial waterway through which a fifth of global oil supplies usually pass. — AFP

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ASIAN buyers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are preparing for the war in the Middle East to disrupt deliveries for months, as a prolonged outage at the world’s largest export plant threatens tighter supply and higher prices.

Companies in Thailand are looking to buy LNG cargoes for delivery through May, according to traders with knowledge of the matter. Bangladesh bought shipments for April, and is considering procuring fuel for May onward as well, the traders said. Major buyers in Taiwan and South Korea are also preparing to buy more supply for those two months, they said. 

The moves demonstrate that Asia’s importers aren’t relying on a swift resolution to the war with Iran, and that the outage in Qatar — which supplies 20% of the world’s LNG — is expected to be prolonged. The longer the plant is shuttered, the worse the supply shock as there’s no alternative route to export the fuel, nor spare capacity elsewhere to cover the lost output.

Spot LNG prices in Asia are trading at about US$18 per million British thermal units, according to traders. Although prices have pulled back from a peak of about US$25 last week, they’re still 80% higher than before the conflict began.

Qatar shut the Ras Laffan export facility last week after an Iranian drone strike, upending the market and sending the price of gas in Europe and Asia soaring. A number of companies, including Shell Plc, have declared force majeure on their shipments of Qatari LNG to customers in Asia.

At least nine LNG shipments bound for Europe have rerouted to Asia since the fighting began, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg, after Asian buyers offered higher rates for the shipments than their rivals in Europe.

India, which sources about half its LNG from Qatar, has been scrambling to procure alternative shipments for immediate delivery, traders said. Gail India Ltd was able to book an LNG cargo for March on Tuesday after a few failed attempts, while others are still looking, they said. — BLOOMBERG

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THE Trump administration plans to release 172 million barrels from the US emergency oil reserve as part of the coordinated effort by nations around the world to ease surging crude and fuel prices — less than two weeks since the beginning of the Iran war. 

The release, announced by Energy Secretary Chris Wright in a statement on Wednesday evening, will take about 120 days to fully deliver the oil from the Energy Department’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It’s part of the plan by member nations of the International Energy Agency to discharge a total of 400 million barrels from reserves globally. 

“This is to tide the world over while these flows are restricted by Iran, but ultimately the United States military will prevail,” Wright said on Fox News. “Hopefully in the next few weeks we will start to see ship traffic returning to the Strait of Hormuz.”

Crude, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices have climbed dramatically since the US and Israel began their military campaign against Iran on Feb 28. The war has brought shipping traffic to a virtual standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil flows. 

Brent crude rose back towards US$100 (RM393) a barrel early on Thursday as Iraq stopped operations at its oil ports after two tankers were targeted. 

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve currently contains roughly 415 million barrels, about 60% of its capacity, following a series of withdrawals by the Biden administration. Those included a record sale of 180 million barrels to help lower gasoline prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, a decision that President Donald Trump and other Republicans assailed.

At the time, Trump called it an irresponsible and “futile attempt to reduce oil and gasoline prices.”

Now back in office, he is facing intense political pressure to address the sudden rise in fuel prices. November’s midterm elections that will decide control of both houses of Congress hinge in large part on Americans’ attitudes towards the costs of living, and polls show the public taking a dim view of the president’s handling of the economy.

“We’re going to be doing it very quickly, and then we’ll fill it up,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday evening after his return from a trip to Ohio and Kentucky. “We’ll fill up our reserves.”

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that Trump was “doing what I called for three days ago, after needlessly sowing additional chaos and uncertainty. But he’s already created a lot more problems than this will solve – from the Strait of Hormuz blockade to his poorly planned and reckless war.”

Wright, in his statement, said that the US had arranged to refill the reserves with approximately 200 million barrels within the next year at no cost to the taxpayer. 

The secretary, in the past, has said the administration is looking at deals with private companies to refill the reserve, an apparently reference to the use of so-called royalty-in-kind in which the US accepts oil and gas from producers in lieu of cash royalties on federal energy resources.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the chair of the White House National Energy Dominance Council, told NewsNation on Wednesday that the administration has had conversations with energy companies that plan to increase domestic oil production.

ClearView Energy Partners said in a note Wednesday that the broader, 400 million-barrel release provides “official recognition that the Hormuz crisis has become serious enough for the industrialised world to liquidate one-third of its oil insurance policy,” 

“It remains far from clear when the strait might reopen; both naval mines and anti-ship weapons could still pose significant threats,” the Washington consulting firm added. 

On paper, the reserve, established in massive salt mines along the US Gulf Coast after the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s with a maximum capacity of about 713 million barrels, can release about 4.4 million barrels a day, according to the Energy Department’s website. It takes 13 days for oil from the system to reach the open market after the president orders a sale. 

However, an analysis prepared by the department in 2016 said the actual amount the reserve is capable of releasing might be limited to 1.4 million to 2.1 million barrels a day. During the 2022 release, the amount never topped more than 1.1 million a day, according to an analysis of government data by ClearView. — AFP

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WELLINGTON — New Zealand’s national airline said Thursday it would cancel 1,100 flights over the next two months, pointing to the impact of the war in the Middle East.

Air New Zealand chief executive Nikhil Ravishankar said around five percent of its flights will be cancelled, affecting 44,000 passengers.

The cancelled flights are mostly on domestic routes within New Zealand but will also include some international flights, he said.

Flights between New Zealand and the United States would not be impacted due to increased demand for alternative routes to Europe, Ravishankar added.

“With the unprecedented volatility in jet fuel prices due to the conflict in the Middle East, airlines around the world are adjusting fares and their schedules to help manage the impact of these significantly increased costs,” Ravishankar said.

Ravishankar said jet fuel typically cost about US$85 a barrel, but prices were now double that.

Cancellations would help keep flying as affordable as possible and ensure the company was efficient with fuel, he said.

On Tuesday, Air New Zealand raised ticket prices on all routes.

Oil prices this week surged well above $100 a barrel, after Iranian attacks on shipping effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. — AFP

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ISTANBUL — Iraq said Thursday that it has halted operations at the country’s oil ports following an attack on an oil tanker in territorial waters, according to Anadolu Ajansi, quoting local media. 

Operations at commercial ports are continuing as normal, said the Director General of the state-run General Company for Ports of Iraq, Farhan al-Fartousi.

Al-Fartousi said the decision to halt operations at oil ports was taken as a temporary precautionary measure until the security situation is assessed and the safety of maritime navigation and oil export facilities is ensured.

He said that an oil tanker was attacked while sailing in Iraqi territorial waters, causing a fire to break out in parts of the vessel before emergency teams managed to contain the situation and prevent further damage. 

Al-Fartousi added that the relevant authorities have launched an investigation to determine the circumstances of the attack and identify those responsible, noting that preliminary information indicates the incident did not result in a major oil spill or significant environmental damage.

He stressed that Iraq’s commercial ports continue to operate normally and that loading and unloading activities at commercial terminals have not been affected by the incident, adding that maritime authorities are enhancing security measures in shipping lanes and ports to ensure the safety of vessels and the continuity of trade operations. 

The suspension of operations at oil ports comes at a time when Iraq relies heavily on its southern ports to export the majority of its oil production to global markets. 

Observers say any disruption to export operations could impact global oil supplies, particularly amid rising security tensions in the region and growing concerns over the safety of energy shipping routes. — BERNAMA-ANADOLU

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PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s administration started the first of several sweeping trade investigations that set the stage for new tariffs, the centerpiece of a push to replace levies struck down by the US Supreme Court.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced Wednesday that his office would begin a probe into more than a dozen major economies under Section 301 of the Trade Act focused on alleged excess manufacturing capacity.

The investigations, which typically take months to complete, are required for the president to unilaterally place duties on imports from specific countries deemed to employ unfair trading practices. Economies that will be subject to the inquiry include some of the US’s largest trading partners: China, the European Union, Mexico, India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. 

Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Bangladesh will also be investigated.

“Our view is that key trading partners have developed production capacity that is really untethered from the market incentives of domestic and global demand,” Greer said during a telephone briefing for reporters. 

The move marks the formal kickoff of the administration’s effort to rebuild Trump’s tariff wall after the landmark Supreme Court decision against his global duties last month. Tariffs have been a core plank of the president’s economic policy, and he had used his ability to unilaterally impose them to wield leverage against foreign countries.

While Trump and his team argue they simply want continuity in their trade policy, the administration’s rush to respond to the court defeat has yet again roiled global trading relations. Launching a new trade investigation risks stirring up tensions with Beijing just weeks before a planned summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Targeting Mexico could further damage the already strained efforts to renegotiate the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement that Trump signed during his first term. 

Canada was not among the initial batch of targeted countries.

Greer signaled the administration has no intention of slowing down. USTR plans to hold a public hearing around May 5 following an open comment period on the probe. After that, it can propose corrective actions, including tariffs.

As early as Thursday, the Trump administration also plans to open a separate investigation related to a ban on imports made with forced labor that cover at least 60 countries. Other inquires are expected to follow, Greer said. He didn’t specify what industries or countries could be affected, though he suggested they could target countries over digital-services taxes, pharmaceutical pricing and other concerns.

“The policy remains the same. The tools may change, depending on the vagaries of courts and other things, but the policy remains the same,” Greer told reporters. 

After the justices ruled that Trump’s tariffs violated the law, the president immediately announced 10% tariffs under a different authority as a stopgap for 150 days, while signaling plans to impose levies under different powers, including Section 301 and Section 232. He later said he would raise the temporary baseline rate to 15%, though has so far held off on actually imposing the increase.

Greer said he would seek to conclude the investigations before the Section 122 levies expire, which would allow any new levies to quickly replace them.

Trump has groused that those provisions lack the same flexibility as the emergency law he had used, though the Section 301 and Section 232 avenues are widely seen as more legally sound. He has already used them to impose tariffs on autos, metals and certain imports from China and Brazil.

Greer said in a Feb. 20 statement that the administration expects fresh investigations to cover most major trading partners. At the time he said other issues the US could look into include discrimination against US technology companies, digital taxes and regulations and environmental practices in the seafood and rice industries.

On Wednesday, Greer referred back to that statement while saying he expected additional investigations.

“I think there are a handful of these that will come out. I don’t want to give a specific number, because I think that there’s a little bit of decisions to be made on what to put out when, but these are important issues to address,” he said. 

Greer said last month that the administration would “continue” ongoing Section 301 investigations into Brazil and China as well as “maintain” current levies under Section 232 and “conclude ongoing negotiations.” He downplayed a fresh wave of probes into specific industries under Section 232.

“I don’t think we’re going to see that in the next few weeks, right, but I think we have three years left to go in this presidency,” he said.

The Wednesday announcement was expected to be the first of several as the administration tries to reassemble the tariffs that Trump previously imposed using emergency powers. It’s not clear exactly how specifically the administration will apply potential new levies to reconstruct its previous tariff regime. 

Trump has repeatedly boasted about the money brought in through his tariffs, and losing that revenue stream is a key concern for the White House. The administration has sought to delay steps toward issuing tariff refunds to importers, but a federal appeals court recently rejected the government’s request to maintain a pause for as long as four months. — BLOOMBERG

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JAPAN will release 80 million barrels of oil from its strategic reserves as the nation and other major energy importers grapple with the fallout of the war in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced that Japan would go ahead with a unilateral move to free up some of its oil stockpiles in comments that came ahead of an agreement by the International Energy Agency to release a record 400 million barrels from emergency oil reserves. 

Governments are seeking to contain a surge in energy prices driven by the Middle East war. The conflict has choked the vital Strait of Hormuz through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes.

Takaichi said Japan would release the equivalent of 15 days of its oil consumption needs from private sector stocks, and one-month’s worth from national reserves. Speaking via a broadcast on NHK, Takaichi said the release would begin as soon as March 16.

Japan welcomed the decision made by the IEA to conduct the collective release in a statement released later on Wednesday. The statement did not specify how Japan’s unilateral release would be coordinated with the IEA’s collective one. 

“This collective release demonstrates the determination of the IEA member countries to act in solidarity to ensure a stable supply of energy, which underpins people’s daily lives, and to stabilize the market,” the statement said. 

Resource-scarce Japan is vulnerable to disruptions to energy flows, as the war in the Middle East upends global oil and gas markets. While the nation boasts strategic oil stockpiles equivalent to 254 days of total consumption, prolonged hostilities in the Middle East and a shipping standstill in the Strait of Hormuz could start eroding those reserves. That could also derail Takaichi’s plans to tackle inflation.

Oil producers from the Middle East also hold stockpiles in the Middle East, which Japan has the right to access during emergencies. 

Japan’s trade ministry projected that oil shipments from the Middle East would drop significantly from March 20. Japan is set to begin releasing a month’s worth of oil from its national stockpile from the end of March, and the government will also provide subsidies for petroleum products amid the ongoing war in the Middle East, according to the trade ministry.

“Amid growing domestic anxiety, Prime Minister Takaichi has decided to make a proactive move,” said Harumi Taguchi, principal economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence. “A reduction in crude oil supply would negatively impact the economy not only in terms of price, but also from the perspective of supply shortages.”

Elevated oil prices will boost the risk of Japan’s economy falling into stagflation and raise the pressure on Takaichi to contain the damage with more spending. Higher inflation and a weakened economy would also complicate the Bank of Japan’s efforts to normalize its policy settings with gradual interest rate hikes.

“Given that the outlook for the Middle East situation remains uncertain, we will continue to flexibly consider the form of support moving forward,” Takaichi said. 

The government will implement measures to keep gasoline prices at around ¥170 per liter, by using existing funds that were set up in the past to keep the fuel price from rising, she said. The nationwide average is currently at ¥161.8 per liter.

Japan in the past has conducted releases from oil reserves held by the private sector. It first released fuel from stockpile held within the national reserves in 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rocked commodity markets. –BLOOMBERG

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OIL climbed in another volatile trading session, as traders weighed growing disruptions to Middle East supplies and a potential emergency release of oil reserves from rich nations. 

The International Energy Agency is proposing an unprecedented release of 300 million to 400 million barrels, with a possible decision later on Wednesday when leaders of the Group of Seven most developed nations meet. US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the timing was perfect, while Japan will press ahead with its own release regardless.

The proposal highlights the tenous state of the oil market after the war in the Middle East effectively halted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow channel that typically handles a fifth of global crude flows — and led major Persian Gulf producers to cut output. Three vessels were hit with suspected projectiles in the region on Wednesday, as the conflict shows no signs of abating. 

“The market is refocusing on the disrupted volume due to the Strait closure, and realizing the transit is still unsafe,” said Giovanni Staunovo, a commodity analyst at UBS Group AG.

Brent was trading higher near $91 a barrel, after earlier switching between gains and losses. The fluctuations continued a period of extreme market volatility this week that saw prices reach almost $120 on Monday.

Oil tumbled on Tuesday as the market grappled with rapidly shifting comments from the Trump administration about the war and shipping via Hormuz. Energy Secretary Chris Wright erroneously posted — and then deleted — a message that the US Navy had escorted an oil tanker through the strait near Iran, only for the White House to concede no operation had occurred.

There was also a flurry of conflicting social-media messages from President Donald Trump about mines in the strait. Trump is facing mounting economic and political pressure over the war, and late Monday said the conflict would be ending soon. However, US officials on Tuesday signaled military operations were escalating and there was little chance of diplomatic talks.

“It very much feels like a market trading in the fog of war, reacting in real time as events unfold,” said Rebecca Babin, a senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Group. “Traders continue to get whipsawed by intense price action and extreme volatility in crude, with headlines driving sharp intraday swings.”

The conflict in the Middle East, now into its second week, has drawn more than a dozen countries into the fray and has sparked concerns about an inflation crisis. US retail gasoline has jumped, putting additional pressure on Trump.

Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have lowered their collective output by as much as 6.7 million barrels a day, or 6% of global output, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. The biggest oil refinery in the UAE halted operations following a drone strike.

“There would be catastrophic consequences for the world’s oil market the longer the disruption goes on, and the more drastic the consequences for the global economy,” Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said on Tuesday, his first public comments since the war choked Middle East flows. –BLOOMBERG

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