Oil Prices at $120-$130 Could Trigger Global Recession

Middle Eastern outlets frame Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz as the core driver of the price spike and the main threat to regional economies. Commentators say local producers like Kuwait are benefiting from higher prices in the short term but fear that a prolonged shutdown could push crude toward $180 and trigger demand collapse. Some writers also question whether the crisis could push Gulf states and Asian buyers to explore non‑dollar oil trade, slowly weakening the petrodollar order.

• •Regional experts report Kuwait’s crude price near $143 per barrel because of the Hormuz crisis.
• •Energy specialists in the Gulf warn that if Hormuz remains disrupted, oil could surge toward $180 per barrel.
• •Middle Eastern commentators argue that strategic stockpile releases can only partly calm prices while shipping through Hormuz is blocked.
• •Writers in the region suggest that repeated US–Iran confrontations may encourage Gulf exporters to consider more non‑dollar oil sales.
• •Some analysts in the Middle East warn that a deep global slowdown caused by high prices would eventually hit Gulf budgets and social spending.