G7 may tap oil reserves as US gas prices rise 17%

The Group of Seven said in Brussels on Monday that it could release emergency oil stockpiles to ease market pressure after oil prices surged to nearly $120 a barrel, the first time oil has surpassed $100 since July 2022.

Reuters reports that the US is also mulling other options, including reducing exports to lower costs at home, where since the war started Feb. 28, gas prices have soared by 17%. In a post on Truth Social Sunday, President Donald Trump said rising energy prices are a "very small price to pay" for global "peace and safety."

Iran, meanwhile, continued attacks on neighboring countries on Monday, striking the Al Ma’ameer oil facility in Bahrain and causing a fire and material damage. Shortly afterward, the kingdom’s state-owned Bapco Energies declared force majeure — a legal step that allows a company to suspend contractual obligations under extraordinary circumstances — on its group’s operations.

The announcement follows similar moves by the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and QatarEnergy last week. Turkey summoned Iran’s ambassador for a reprimand after an Iranian projectile was fired at its territory on Monday for the second time since the conflict erupted.

Hostilities between Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Israel are intensifying, displacing 600,000 people throughout Lebanon, according to President Joseph Aoun. Two Israelis were killed in a Hezbollah missile attack on central Israel on Monday. The Israeli military launched a series of airstrikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs, hitting a building belonging to al-Qard al-Hassan, a Hezbollah-linked financial institution sanctioned by Washington.

Earlier Monday, the Islamic Republic’s Assembly of Experts named Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as the regime’s new leader. A mid-level cleric, Mojtaba maintains close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.