Today, the international energy market fluctuated sharply. WTI crude oil prices continued to rise in early trading, breaking through the 90 to 93 US dollar mark one after another, with the highest intraday gain reaching 8.05%. Brent crude oil prices returned to 100 US dollars per barrel, hitting a recent high. The sharp rise in oil prices was mainly affected by the tense geopolitical situation in the Middle East and the interruption of Oman’s ports. The escalation of military confrontation between US troops and Iran has exacerbated market concerns about oil supply disruptions.

To cope with the pressure of rising oil prices, member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced the release of 400 million barrels of emergency oil reserves, the largest scale in history. Among them, Germany, the United Kingdom and South Korea will release nearly 20 million barrels, 13.5 million barrels and 22.46 million barrels respectively. On the US side, the Trump administration authorized the Department of Energy to release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which will start next week with a delivery cycle of about 120 days. At the same time, it plans to add 200 million barrels of crude oil reserves next year.

The rise in oil prices has triggered a chain reaction. The European Union warned that the Iran conflict may push the EU inflation rate above 3%. In addition, the sharp rise in oil prices has also exacerbated market concerns about global economic stagflation. The Federal Reserve may need to strike a balance between price stability and the job market at its policy meeting next week. Currently, the market expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by only 26 basis points this year, and the space for monetary policy easing is limited.