China faces oil squeeze after US-Israel strikes on Iran

Oil prices rose by the most in four years amid the US-Israeli war on Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane for global crude supplies. Brent crude, the global benchmark, surged as much as 14 per cent to more than US$82 per barrel, the highest since January 2025, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Shipowners and traders are largely avoiding the Strait of Hormuz that links the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, which usually handles about 20 per cent of...