Exclusive | Saudi Arabia Sees a Spike to $180 Oil if Energy Shock Persists Past April – WSJ

Exclusive | Saudi Arabia Sees a Spike to $180 Oil if Energy Shock Persists Past April – WSJ

Saudi Arabia’s oil officials are working frantically to project how high oil prices might go if the Iran war and its disruption of energy supplies doesn’t end soon—and they don’t like what they are seeing.

The base case, several oil officials in the Gulf’s biggest producer said, is that prices could soar past $180 a barrel if the disruptions persist until late April.

While that would sound like a bonanza for a kingdom still heavily leveraged to oil revenue, it is deeply concerning. Prices that high could push consumers into habits that slash their oil use—potentially for the long term—or trigger a recession that also hurts demand. They also would risk casting Saudi Arabia in the role of profiteer in a war it didn’t start.

Oil Rises After Israel Strikes Iran Gas Field and Tehran Hits Qatar Fuel Hub

Iran War Live Updates: Oil Rises After Israel Strikes Iran Gas Field and Tehran Hits Qatar Fuel Hub

Oil soared past $115 and European natural-gas prices surged more than 20% as attacks on Middle Eastern energy infrastructure fueled anxiety over supply.

Qatar said early Thursday that Iranian ballistic missiles caused extensive damage at its Ras Laffan industrial area, which houses a major hub for liquefied-natural gas. Those strikes came in response to an Israeli attack on a large Iranian gas field, South Pars, which prompted Iran’s president to warn of “uncontrollable consequences, the scope of which could engulf the entire world.”