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After a request from the International Energy Agency that was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, Germany and Austria said today that they will release some of their strategic oil reserves to temper global prices. Japan has indicated that it will do the same. 

But how effective will this move be in bringing down the cost of crude? My colleague Nisha Patel asked energy analyst Naveen Das about it this morning.

"I think it will have a calming effect and it will push prices down simply because, you know, sentiment will be eased, and essentially we will have more oil available on the market," said Das, who works at Kpler in London, U.K. 

"However, it won't be an effective Band-Aid, really, to replace the volumes that we've lost so far." 

He noted that the volume of oil lost with each passing day in the Strait of Hormuz will outpace the amount to be released from the reserves over time — about 400 million barrels' worth from the IEA members.

Oil prices are once again climbing this morning, but they're still nowhere near the spike that we saw on Monday.

Brent Crude, the international standard for oil prices, was up about three per cent and hovering at $90 US per barrel by 9:30 a.m. ET. West Texas Intermediate — the U.S. Standard — was up about 2.70 per cent, costing just over $85 US a barrel, according to data from MarketWatch.

U.S. Stock markets were a mixed bag in early trading, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average having lost 187 points or 0.3 per cent by 9:45 a.m. ET, the Nasdaq up 0.4 per cent, and the S&P 500 up a modest 0.1 per cent.

The higher rate was largely driven by more expensive gasoline. Pump prices climbed a smidge in February — before the war in the Middle East began on Feb. 28 and sent those same costs skyrocketing.

The higher gas prices will almost certainly be felt in next month's consumer price figures, reflecting the heavy price of oil and a squeeze on global energy supply amid disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has warned it will begin targeting economic and banking interests linked to the United States and Israel across the Middle East, raising concern for financial hubs across the Gulf, especially in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The threat was issued by Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya military command after a strike damaged a building in Tehran connected to Bank Sepah, one of Iran's largest state-owned lenders long tied to the military.

The warning comes as Iran has widened its attacks beyond U.S. Bases and Israeli targets to include Gulf states.

In Dubai, some companies in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) have reportedly sent employees home as a precaution, while workers who live in the financial district are looking for alternative accommodation elsewhere in the city.

Observers say by targeting Gulf states, Iran is trying to put American allies under pressure, hoping they will lobby Washington to halt the offensive.

Until Iran began targeting energy and civilian sites, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had been cautiously easing tensions with Tehran, while Qatar maintained relatively open diplomatic channels with the Islamic republic.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said today that the joint U.S.-Israeli war on Iran will continue "without any time limits."

His comments come a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel will allocate a special budget of tens of billions of shekels for extra defence spending to finance the air war with Iran. 

Bloomberg reported that Netanyahu's cabinet approved the revised state budget for 2026, adding $13 billion US to cover the war with Iran.

"This is not an expense, it's an investment," Smotrich said ahead of the cabinet meeting last night.

Strikes across the Gulf widened again today, underscoring how the war is now hitting both civilian infrastructure and core energy sites.

In the U.A.E., Abu Dhabi’s state oil company ADNOC shut the Ruwais refinery as a precaution after a drone strike caused a fire inside the complex. Officials said there were no injuries and other operations were continuing.

Reuters and industry monitor IIR say the disruption affected part of a site that can process almost 100,000 barrels a day, making the refinery one of the region’s largest.

Also in the U.A.E., two drones fell near Dubai International Airport, injuring four people, with a new wave of Iranian missile and drone attacks on targets in northern Iraq, Bahrain and near Dubai.

Across the wider Gulf, almost two million barrels per day of refining capacity is now shut, according to IIR. What began as a regional military confrontation is now increasingly becoming an attack on the Gulf's economic arteries.

Chanpreet Singh, his wife and two children were expecting to only stop in the United Arab Emirates for a few days on Feb. 27, before reaching India.

But after flights were grounded due to regional hostilities, the Canadian family has been stuck in Dubai since then.

"But it's the uncertainty around it. All of the flights have been cancelled so now we're just sitting and waiting to see what [will happen] next."

Navdeep Singh, his wife, said they were supposed to leave for India on March 3.

"Eight days later, we have no inclination, no information, no communication whatsoever as to what's going to go on," she said.

Instead of flying to India, they will return to Toronto now, she says, but the earliest flight they could re-book departs on March 20.

"All we can do is pray and hope that that flight does take off," she said.

3 cargo vessels hit in Strait of Hormuz

Three cargo vessels that attempted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz report being hit by projectiles. One of the strikes, on a Thailand-flagged bulk carrier, led to a fire and forced most of its crew to evacuate the ship.

The latest from the Strait of Hormuz points to a sharp and dangerous escalation.

Today, three vessels have been hit by unidentified projectiles in and around the waterway, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations and Reuters.

One of them, the Thailand-flagged bulk carrier Mayuree Naree, caught fire about 11 nautical miles north of Oman, forcing a partial crew evacuation.

A Japan-flagged container ship, One Majesty, suffered minor damage northwest of Ras Al Khaimah, while the Marshall Islands-flagged Star Gwyneth was also hit and sustained hull damage. All crew members were reported safe. 

The Strait of Hormuz normally carries around 20 per cent of global oil and gas supply, so even isolated attacks there have outsized consequences.

Traffic has already fallen sharply, oil prices have jumped, and the U.S. Military says it has struck 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the strait.

Saudi Arabia is trying to reroute more crude through the Red Sea, but analysts warn a prolonged disruption could still remove millions of barrels a day from the market.

A number of displaced Lebanese residents erected tents along the shoreline as Israeli strikes continue to pound the country. Many Muslims in the country are still fasting for Ramadan.

The majority of those displaced in shelters have come from Beirut's southern suburbs and southern Lebanon.

The war has displaced nearly 700,000 people in just nine days, the UN said yesterday, since Israel launched an offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah on March 2.

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