U.S. Gas Prices Rise Amid Third Week of Iran Conflict

Financial outlets focus on how weeks of war are reshaping global gas markets for years and forcing central banks, especially in Europe, to rethink their plans. They stress that higher diesel, gasoline and gas prices are feeding inflation and could, if oil jumps above around $120 a barrel, help tip the world economy into recession. They expect more volatile energy prices, tougher choices for central banks, and rising concern among investors about war costs and growth prospects.

• •The Iran war is changing global gas trade patterns in ways that will last for years.
• •Europe’s central banks say the conflict has wrecked earlier inflation and growth forecasts by driving up energy prices.
• •US diesel prices above $5 a gallon are increasing transport and production costs across the economy.
• •Economists warn that oil above roughly US$120 per barrel because of the war could trigger a global recession.
• •Investors are reassessing risk as war spending and energy inflation threaten to slow global growth.