LONDON, 03 March. - (ANA) - The US and Israeli strikes against Iran could severely disrupt the global supply of crude oil and send prices soaring to levels not seen in years.

 

Iran remains just inside the world’s top 10 oil producers even though its output has fallen sharply since the 1970s, hit in particular by rounds of US sanctions.

 

The main risk to the oil market remains a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has frequently threatened to paralyse.

 

Iran remains just inside the world’s top 10 oil producers even though its output has fallen sharply since the 1970s, hit in particular by rounds of US sanctions.

 

“In 1974, Iran was the third-biggest producer in the world after the US and Saudi Arabia, and ahead of Russia, producing some six million barrels per day,” Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief analyst at Global Risk Management, told AFP.

 

Today, Iran produces about 3.1 million barrels per day, according to the oil-producing cartel OPEC, of which Iran is a member.

 

This remains a significant amount, and the Islamic republic is believed to hold the world’s third-largest crude reserves, cementing its strategic importance.

 

Additionally, Iran’s oil industry is in far better shape than that of Venezuela, another country hit by years of US sanctions.

 

Approximately 20 million barrels of crude oil passed through it daily in 2024, equivalent to nearly 20 percent of global liquid oil consumption, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

 

 

AB/ANA/03 March 2026 - - -