Airlines In The Region Are Losing Around $500 Million A Day
Money and Business Economy News – Follow-up WEGO Chief Business Officer Mamoun Humaidan said that daily losses for airlines are estimated at between $250 million and $500 million per day for companies that use the region’s airports as a transit point. He added that low-cost airlines are the most affected due to their lower profit margins.
Hamidan said that the aviation sector’s problem has now branched out to include route changes and rising costs, and he expects IATA to intervene to solve the problem.
He noted that things were promising yesterday with the opening of some special flights to evacuate stranded travelers.
Meanwhile, travel company stocks suffered sharp losses yesterday, with their market value falling by $22.6 billion, amid escalating geopolitical concerns that have disrupted air travel globally.
Shares of U.S. airlines such as Delta Air Lines, United and American Airlines fell between 2% and 4%.
In Europe, shares of TUI fell by 10% and Lufthansa shares declined by 5.2%, while British Airways owner IAG lost about 5.5%.
Analysts from JPMorgan, Goodbody and Citigroup noted that Wizz Air is the most exposed in Europe due to its large presence in Israel.
On the other hand, Jefferies estimates that a 5% increase in fuel costs could reduce Delta and United’s 2026 profits by between 5% and 10%, while American Airlines’ profits could fall by about 35%.
The chaos in the global aviation sector worsened after airlines cancelled thousands of flights and changed the routes of others in the air, following the closure of large areas of airspace in the Middle East after military strikes carried out by the United States and Israel inside Iranian territory.
The widespread closure of airspace caused disruptions to extend to areas as far away as Brazil and Australia, as airlines were forced to cancel or divert flights that normally fly over the region. https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=66312
Gas Price In Europe Surpasses $700 As Iran Blocks Strait Of Hormuz
Today, 12:52 INA-SOURCES The price of gas on the exchange in Europe has surpassed $700 per 1,000 cubic meters for the first time since January 2023 amid statements by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (the elite unit of the Iranian Armed Forces) on blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, according to data from London’s ICE.
The price of April futures contracts at the TTF hub in the Netherlands has jumped to around $711 per 1,000 cubic meters, or 59.015 euro per MWh (based on the current exchange rate of euro to dollar, figures for ICE are presented in euros per MWh).
The price growth since the beginning of the day has exceeded 30%.
Earlier, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to burn any tanker attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced later that the Strait of Hormuz was still open for civil navigation.
Moreover, state-owned oil and gas company Qatar Energy has announced suspension of production of LNG and related products due to Iran’s air strikes. Qatar is the world’s third largest LNG exporter after the US and Australia. Its LNG production capacity is 77 mln tons per annum. The country has also announced plans to expand its LNG plants to 142 mln tons.
The United States and Israel launched a large-scale 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. At the same time, US leadership openly called on the Iranian population to rise up against their government and seize power.
As a result of the strikes, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several other senior figures in the leadership of the Islamic Republic were killed. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia were also hit.
SOURCE: TASS https://ina.iq/en/economy/46018-gas-price-in-europe-surpasses-700-as-iran-blocks-strait-of-hormuz.html
Asian Stocks Extend Declines As Middle East Tensions Remain High
Today, 09:04 BAGHDAD-INA Asian stocks fell for a second day, as an escalation in the Middle East conflict fueled investor concern about surging oil prices and inflationary pressures.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped as much as 2%, extending Monday’s 1.7% loss in the wake of US and Israeli strikes on Iran and its subsequent retaliation on neighbors. South Korea led equity market losses Tuesday, reopening following a holiday, with the Kospi sliding as much as 4.1%.
“The broader big picture is that the investment question is not primarily about Iran itself — it is whether the conflict leads to a larger value-at-risk episode driven by correlation into other markets,” said Nick Ferres, chief investment officer of Vantage Point Asset Management in Singapore. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
• S&P 500 futures fell 0.7% as of 11:22 a.m. Tokyo time
• Japan’s Topix fell 2.2%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.4%
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.3%
• The Shanghai Composite fell 1%
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.7%
Currencies
• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
• The euro was little changed at $1.1689
• The Japanese yen was little changed at 157.34 per dollar
• The offshore yuan rose 0.2% to 6.8842 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
• Bitcoin fell 1.6% to $68,317.88
• Ether fell 2% to $2,002.23
SOURCE: NDTV https://ina.iq/en/economy/46006-asian-stocks-extend-declines-as-middle-east-tensions-remain-high.html
Crude, Natural Gas Prices Jump On Iranian News
Today, 12:57 Oil prices rose higher on Monday March 2, though not as much as expected, and stocks took that a relief sign and cut early losses toward the end of trading.
The conflict over and around Iran and the Persian Gulf was still raging, with no end in sight. Iran seemed not to be interested in talking about terms, probably because it wasn’t clear who would be the leader of the Iranian government.
Israel’s Saturday attack on the headquarters of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, killed him and other top officials.
Prices of Brent crude, the global benchmark crude, and light sweet crude, the benchmark U.S. crude jumped when futures trading opened. Brent topped out at $82.37 a barrel but closed March 2 at $77.74 per barrel, up 6.7% on the day. Brent is still up nearly 28% on the year.
Light sweet crude finished at $71.23, up 6.3% on the day and up 17% year-to-date.
AAA’s daily gas survey put regular gas nationally at $2.997 on Monday, up more than a penny from Sunday and up about 5.6% this year.
The stock market fell like a rock at the open after futures plunged starting late on Sunday March 1. Prices moved steadily higher for much of the session and were actually ahead on the day.
But The Gains Dissipated After 3:30 P.M.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was 3 points to 6,882. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 73 points to 48,905. But the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 81 points to 22,749.
The Strait Of Hormuz Is The Key
The oil price decline and stock recovery were predicated on hopes for a short bout of violence, followed by real talks and maybe a deal.
But all eyes watching the situation were focused on the Strait of Hormuz, the 22-mile wide body of water through which oil and natural gas tankers must pass to get to global markets. Iranian territory is the north side of the strait, and Iranian naval vessels have fired on at least four ships.
Global tracking images show big fleets of ships parked outside the strait in the Persian Gulf and in the Gulf of Oman. Reports suggested insurance companies were refusing to cover losses if tankers tried to pass through.
Qatar had shut down liquid natural gas production on Monday. The Persian Gulf nation is the world’s largest liquid natural-gas producer.
Several Issues Are Still Search For Solutions:
Who will take control of the Iranian government and be able to negotiate?
Do the Persian Gulf nations have enough ammunition to fend off Iranian drone and missile attacks?
Will the conflict last more than a month? The longer the shooting continues, energy supplies will tighten, and prices will rise. https://ina.iq/en/economy/46019-crude-natural-gas-prices-jump-on-iranian-news.html
Saudi Arabia’s Aramco Ras Tanura Refinery Hit By Drone Strike, Shuts Down; Brent Crude Rises 9%
INA-SOURCES Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, the state oil giant, shut down its Ras Tanura oil refinery on Monday following drone strikes in the facility, Reuters and Bloomberg report.
The reports of the closure sent Brent crude oil prices skyrocketing by 9.32%.
According to the Reuters report quoting an official, the Ras Tanura refinery of Aramco was shut as a precautionary measure. The situation was under control, the official said.
LNG Tanker Dayrates Double To $200K In Less Than A Day – Bloomberg
Today, 09:08 INA-SOURCES Shippers are demanding more than $200K/day for liquefied natural gas tankers in the Atlantic Basin, roughly double the amount obtained less than a day earlier, Bloomberg reported late Monday.
Those offer levels were at least triple the previous assessed price for an LNG tanker by shipping firm Spark Commodities, which came in at $61.5K/day earlier Monday – which was itself up 43% from from the previous day.
The surge in vessel rates has followed Qatar’s shutdown of LNG production as the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran began to spill across the Middle East region.
Transacted shipping rates – actual deals to lease vessels – are not likely to soar unless production cuts are prolonged in places such as Qatar and the U.A.E., Precision LNG Consulting’s Richard Pratt told Bloomberg.
https://ina.iq/en/economy/46007-lng-tanker-dayrates-double-to-200k-in-less-than-a-day-bloomberg.html
Oil Prices Surge 13% In First Trades After Start Of US-Iran Conflict
Yesterday, 10:04 INA-SOURCES Oil prices jumped as much as 13 per cent as trading resumed amid a widening aerial conflict in the Middle East between Iran and the combined forces of the United States and Israel.
Brent crude, a key global benchmark for oil prices, surged as high as US$82.37 per barrel in early trade, the highest since January 2025. It pulled back a tad to trade at US$79.86 – still 9.5 per cent higher than the close on Feb 27 and up about 30 per cent since the start of 2026.
The US oil benchmark – West Texas Intermediate crude – rose 6.95 per cent to US$71.68 after touching US$75.33 earlier, the highest since June 2025.
Rallying crude prices represent the market’s concern about supplies coming through the Strait of Hormuz – a narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean that handles a fifth of the world’s oil and large volumes of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Some 15 million barrels of crude oil and 290 million cubic m of LNG pass through the strait each day from the Middle East to mainly Asia and Europe.
Analysts said tanker traffic through the strait has largely halted, with a self-imposed pause since the conflict began on Feb 28 as insurers warned shipowners that they would cancel policies and raise coverage prices for the region.
It comes as Iran retaliates against US-Israeli air strikes with missile and drone attacks on Israel and Arab states across the Middle East that host American military facilities.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre has reported at least four incidents of vessels coming under attack from “unknown projectiles” since March 1 around Hormuz Strait.
While the Iranian authorities have said they do not intend to shut the waterway, ships in the area have reported hearing radio broadcasts stating that transit through Hormuz was banned.
Mr Max Layton, global head of commodities research at Citibank, said Brent is likely to trade in the US$80 to US$90 per barrel range over at least the coming week while the conflict is ongoing.
But in the case of a prolonged conflict, prices can surge to as high as US$120 a barrel, he added.
“Iran has not officially shut the Strait of Hormuz, but risk aversion from shippers is a real phenomenon. Transit volumes have already declined, with vessels parking outside the strait,” he said.
While constrained so far, attacks on the Omani tanker Skylight and on the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Abu Al Bukhoosh offshore platform highlight the risks towards oil asset targeting as well, Mr Layton said.
Meanwhile, OPEC+ – the oil exporters’ cartel that includes Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Russia – decided on March 1 to increase its crude oil production target by 206,000 barrels per day for April.
While the hike is 1½ times bigger than the 137,000-barrel increments made by the group in December, analysts said it is unlikely to calm markets in the immediate term.
Mr Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at research firm Rystad Energy, said markets are more concerned about whether barrels can move through Hormuz than with spare capacity on paper.
“If flows through the Gulf are constrained, additional production will provide limited immediate relief, making access to export routes far more important than headline output targets,” he said.
For Singapore, more expensive crude will result in higher prices of petrol for car owners.
Higher LNG prices will have an even wider impact, as the Republic produces the bulk of its electricity from natural gas.
While gas is pumped into Singapore mainly through pipelines from neighbouring countries, LNG has seen an increasing share in the mix, especially after the Republic made a long-term supply deal with Qatar – the Gulf state ranked as the world’s top LNG exporter.
Rystad estimates that based on 2025 trade flows, a complete closure of Hormuz and a breakdown of shipping in adjacent waters would see 97.7 million tonnes, or 363.8 million cubic m, per day of LNG from Qatar, the UAE and Oman removed from global markets.
This corresponds to 22 per cent of global LNG supply.
Mr Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said energy prices will remain volatile even if alternative supplies offer some cushion.
“Speculative positioning in oil has been building for weeks amid expectations that conflict in Iran would eventually flare. When a crowded trade gets the headline it was waiting for, the first move is higher.
“The second move can be profit-taking. But in these nervy war-torn conditions, oil markets rarely travel in straight lines,” he said.
