Middle East energy crisis could become unprecedented — expert
According to the newspaper, executives from the world’s largest oil companies attending the annual CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Texas "appeared more astonished about the scale of the supply disruption from the war than thrilled about the higher prices"
WASHINGTON, March 25. /TASS/. The current energy crisis caused by the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East could go down in history as "the worst nightmare" of any oil market analyst, from which future analysts will learn, chief economist at oil and gas giant BP Gareth Ramsay said at the annual CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Texas.
"We’ve not seen anything like this — there’s been no disruption of this scale in the past. It’s every oil analyst’s study piece or worst nightmare — one that we never thought would happen," he said.
According to the newspaper, executives from the world’s largest oil companies attending the conference "appeared more astonished about the scale of the supply disruption from the war than thrilled about the higher prices." Heads of some key companies, including Exxon Mobil and Saudi Aramco, did not attend the forum in Houston at all.
"This is the worst I’ve seen," senior adviser at consulting firm Oliver Wyman and a longtime energy market analyst Paul Sankey told Politico, adding, "How do you replace all this gas, all this oil, helium? The list goes on."
As the newspaper noted, "privately, members of the oil, natural gas, investment and insurance industries at CERAWeek expressed a mix of disbelief that the Trump administration thought it could quickly hobble Iran — and worries about how it will hurt their businesses and the broader economy." Politico also cited Ramsay as questioning the likelihood of reaching agreements in the Middle East to increase oil production.
The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. The White House justified the attack by citing alleged missile and nuclear threats from Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also hit. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some other key Iranian leaders were killed in the joint US-Israeli attack.