Oil has surged 11% to $119 a barrel and gas prices have leapt by 35% after Iranian missile strikes on Qatar’s Ras Laffan facility and an Israeli attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field. Ras Laffan is the world’s biggest LNG export plant…
Qatar said the plant suffered “extensive damage“, with no indication of when it might restart. Saudi Arabia’s Samref refinery was also hit by a drone strike.
The FTSE 100 fell 1.9%, with warnings UK inflation could hit 4% by November and household energy bills could rise by £300. The Bank of England is expected to hold rates at 3.75% at midday. Trump has now threatened to “massively blow up” the South Pars gas field if Iran hits the Gulf again…
Lord Khan in the Telegraph: “I hope, and I say this in a non-pompous way, that the public service I do will bring rewards in this world and the hereafter,” he says. “I’m hoping the work I do is earning me Brownie points.”