The expanding war in the Middle East, however, has reached a new boiling point as Israel has vowed a "painful" response to Iran's attack.
The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could take aim at the Islamic Republic's oil infrastructure in retaliation, geopolitical and crude market analysts say.
"The next turn in this retaliation spiral may very well involve oil – via the degrading of Iran's oil capacityor Iran's proxies attacking oil and gas shipping from the Persian Gulf," Piper Sandler analysts told clients in a Wednesday research note.
If Iran's oil exports of around 1.8 million bpd were taken offline, prices would likely jump by at least $5 per barrel, McNally said.
An escalation on this scale could send oil prices higher in increments of $10 per barrel, the analyst said.
Persons:
Ali Mohammadi, Benjamin Netanyahu, Helima Croft, Jack Jacobs, Jacobs, Croft, Piper Sandler, Bob McNally, McNally
Organizations:
Persian Gulf, Bloomberg, Getty, OPEC, RBC Capital Markets, U.S, Army, Rapidan Energy
Locations:
Bandar Abbas, Iran, Israel, China, Persian