Oil prices have risen more than 5 percent following an Israeli strike on Iran's South Pars gasfield as the United States-Israeli war on the country continues to escalate. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 5 percent to $108.66 a barrel on Wednesday, while US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 2.5 percent to $98.65, widening its discount to Brent to the largest since May 2019 on fears of a prolonged conflict.
The market pulled back after the US allowed a temporary window for countries to buy stranded Russian oil and after the IEA confirmed a coordinated 400 million barrel emergency stock release. These steps helped ease some immediate supply fears, although they could remain insufficient compared to the scale of the disruption.
The UK holds approximately 6,700 gigawatt hours (GWh) of gas in reserve, a significant drop from about 18,000 GWh at the same time last year. This remaining stockpile can only satisfy around 1.5 days of national demand. The UK has a similar amount of liquefied natural gas (LNG) stored, leaving the country highly vulnerable to market disruptions.
