Oil resumed gains — paring a steep drop from Monday — on concern that other nations may be drawn into the Middle East war. US allies in the Persian Gulf were inching toward contributing to the fight, the Wall Street Journal reported. The war has stymied transit through the Strait of Hormuz, forcing Persian Gulf producers to cut millions of barrels of daily oil output. “If this shock lasts longer, this extreme tightness that’s now concentrated in the Middle East and Asia would spread,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The narrow conduit — which links the Persian Gulf to global markets — could be open very soon “if it works,” he said.

Source: The Irish Times March 24, 2026 11:46 UTC