Oil price tops $126 a barrel after Trump warns Iran blockade could last ‘months’
The global oil price has soared above $126 a barrel, its highest level since 2022, after Donald Trump warned the US blockade of Iranian ports could last for months and peace talks remained stalled.After surging more than 13% in 24 hours, the price of Brent crude futures reached its highest price since the war began on 28 February.Not since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has Brent topped $120, with the price then peaking at $139.Oil markets have been spooked this week as Trump appeared willing to maintain the US navy’s blockade of Iranian ports, with Iran responding by keeping the strait of Hormuz all but shut to other oil tankers.Market observers believe that traders are beginning to look beyond the early optimism that a diplomatic resolution could restore Gulf oil flows through the vital trade route, and towards “the reality of the supply situation”.
“The breakdown of talks between the US and Iran, along with President Trump reportedly rejecting Iran’s proposal for a reopening of the strait of Hormuz, has the market losing hope for any quick resumption in oil flows,” Warren Patterson, the head of commodities at investment bank ING, said,Trump told oil executives this week that the US would “continue the current blockade for months if needed,” according to a White House official,US officials hope the blockade will force Iran to cap its oil wells and shutter production once its oil facilities, such as Kharg Island, have filled to the brim,“The blockade is somewhat more effective than the bombing,” Trump told Axios,“They are choking like a stuffed pig.
”The sharp rise in oil prices has raised the risk of a global recession fuelled by the rising cost of fuels and industrial feedstocks which underpin most economic activity,The economist Paul Krugman, a former New York Times columnist, said he believed most analysts had been “far too sanguine” about the effects of a prolonged Hormuz crisis,“In my view, a full-on global recession is more likely than not if the strait remains closed for, say, another three months, which seems all too possible,” he wrote on his Substack on 20 April,Jim Reid, a market strategist at Deutsche Bank, said there were now “growing fears about an extended stagflationary shock”, leading to higher interest rates – or yields – on government bonds,“Overnight we’ve seen Japan’s 10-year yield move up to 2.
51%, which would be its highest closing level since 1997.It was a similar story in Europe too, with the 10-year [German] bund yield at a post-2011 high of 3.11%, whilst 10-year [UK] gilt yields hit a post-2008 high of 5.07%,” Reid added.US inflation soared in March, with prices up 3.
3% over the year,Meanwhile, Britain is facing a £35bn economic hit and the risk of a recession in 2026 because of the war, a thinktank has said,Without an end to the oil market’s biggest supply crisis in history oil prices could return to all-time record highs of about $147 reached in 2008,Tehran warned two weeks after shutting the strait that the world needed to prepare for $200 barrels of oil,
Cricket Australia’s BBL sell-off on hold after Queensland joins NSW in rejecting plans
Cricket Australia’s plan to sell off stakes in the eight Big Bash League franchises has been placed on hold after Queensland joined New South Wales in rejecting the original privatisation proposal.Queensland Cricket, which controls BBL side Brisbane Heat, has backed Cricket NSW’s opposition to CA’s plan to sell up to 49% of each franchise to private owners, with valuations of up to $200m per team.The Victorian, Western Australian and Tasmanian cricket associations have shown support for the BBL privatisation plans, while South Australia is open to the idea for other states but wants to maintain control of the Adelaide Strikers for the time being.The revolt from two state associations leaves the future of the T20 league up in the air from the 2027-28 season, as CA begins to consider alternative options.CA chief executive Todd Greenberg said he would have gone ahead with testing the market if five of the six states had supported the privatisation proposal
AFL player Nathan O’Driscoll opens up on depression and mental health struggles
The family and teammates of Nathan O’Driscoll have expressed love and support for the Fremantle midfielder after he posted an unfiltered account on social media of his mental health challenges.The 23-year-old, who has played just twice this year for his home town club the Dockers, shared on Instagram that he has come close to taking his life three times, and that recent weeks have been especially challenging after the death of someone close to him.“I’m sharing this because speaking up matters. No one is there to judge you, every person I’ve opened up to has supported me in ways I never expected,” he said.“From the outside, it might look like I have everything, but what’s going on internally can be a very different story
LIV Golf poised to inform players that Saudi funding will end this year
LIV Golf executives are poised to confirm to players that Saudi Arabia’s funding of the circuit will cease at the end of 2026, in a move that will begin a scramble between some leading names in the sport to return to traditional tours.Without an alternative and unlikely funding source from 2027 onwards, LIV in its current form is staring at closure just four years on from staging its first tournament. Nothing has materially changed for LIV in recent weeks yet formal admission of an upcoming Saudi exit will be viewed as a key moment in a disruption story that is heading towards a messy finale.The Saudi Public Investment Fund, which has ploughed more than $5bn (£3.7bn) into LIV, informed the tour’s management of a change in approach during meetings in New York immediately after the conclusion of this month’s Masters
Wales great George North to retire from rugby union at end of the season
Think of George North and two iconic moments inevitably stand out. Both took place on the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour when he was just 21 years old. Few northern hemisphere players have made a bigger top-level impact at a more tender age than the departing North, who announced on Wednesday he was retiring from all rugby at the end of this season.The first indelible image occurred in Brisbane in the first Test against Australia. North was inside his own half when he fielded a kick from Berrick Barnes and set off on the kind of surging run that gets longer with every breathless retelling
Revamped Maroons undergo radical reset to take 2026 State of Origin fight to Blues | Jack Snape
Queensland’s greatest player has been jettisoned and backup has been called in from across the ditch. The side has a new-look halves pairing, as many as five State of Origin debutants, and a new coach.Against New South Wales – the holders of the Women’s Origin shield after their comprehensive victory in 2025 – the Maroons have undergone a radical reset. Back to the drawing board? Try again. New coach Nathan Cross is on his way to Officeworks, imagining a whole new fit-out
Sticking with same players for Women’s T20 World Cup leaves England in a twist | Raf Nicholson
Insanity, they say, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. England’s head coach, Charlotte Edwards, is perfectly sane, but on Tuesday she announced a squad for the home T20 World Cup that starts on 12 June almost exactly the same as the one that surrendered the Ashes, by a score of 16-0, 15 months ago. The optics are dreadful.For anyone who has followed England closely over the past year, the conservatism of Edwards and her selection panel comes as no surprise. Last summer, the main selection news was that Kate Cross – who did not play in the Ashes due to injury – was discarded
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