A fresh spike in global oil prices, driven by escalating tensions in the Gulf and threats to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, is testing Barbados’ fuel price protections and prompting urgent calls for energy conservation while the government’s hedging measures maintain a cushion.

World oil prices, already driven up by severe disruptions along the strategic Strait of Hormuz shipping lane as the US-Iran War escalated, surged past the US $100 a barrel threshold this week when Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen moved to block another key entry point, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to the Red Sea. The rebels launched missile and drone strikes targeting two Saudi oil tankers traversing the strait.

The prospect of sustained supply chokepoints has rapidly driven Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate benchmarks upwards, reversing months of relative market stability and threatening to reignite global inflation.