International crude oil prices surged sharply, with Brent crude breaking above $89 per barrel during trading.

Oil prices have surged once again. On the evening of March 6, international crude oil prices continued to climb, with Brent crude rising above $89 per barrel intraday, gaining as much as 4% within the day.

WTI crude oil broke through the $85 per barrel mark for the first time since April 2024, soaring as much as 7.7% during the session.

Reports indicate that Japan is considering releasing its national petroleum reserves to address global energy supply disruptions caused by the current crisis involving Iran. Japan relies on the Middle East for approximately 95% of its oil supply, with about 70% of that transported through the Strait of Hormuz. Tokyo currently holds emergency national reserves equivalent to around 146 days of consumption, in addition to petroleum reserves held by the private sector and joint reserves with oil-producing nations. Earlier this week, Japanese officials stated that there were no immediate plans to release petroleum reserves.

On the same day, the Shanghai Stock Exchange announced that from March 2 to March 6, 2026, it implemented self-regulatory measures against 281 instances of abnormal trading activities, including price manipulation and false orders. The exchange intensified monitoring of funds with high premiums, such as the S&P Oil & Gas ETF and the China-Korea Semiconductor ETF, as well as stocks under delisting risk warnings due to abnormal fluctuations, such as *ST Zhengping. It also conducted special reviews of 34 major corporate events and reported six suspected illegal activity cases to the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

Recent geopolitical tensions have driven continuous increases in international crude oil prices, with further upside risks ahead. According to the Financial Times, Qatar’s energy minister warned that conflict in the Middle East could "overwhelm the global economy" and predicted that all Gulf energy exporters would halt production within weeks, potentially pushing oil prices to $150 per barrel.

Saad al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of Energy and CEO of QatarEnergy, stated that even if the conflict ended immediately, it would take "weeks to months" for Qatar to restore normal delivery cycles after one of its largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities was struck by an Iranian drone. As the world’s second-largest LNG producer, Qatar was forced to declare force majeure this week following the strike on its Ras Laffan facility.

There are reports that ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz may have nearly come to a standstill, with transit volumes dropping to their lowest level since the key waterway was effectively closed over the weekend.

A report issued on March 6 by the Joint Maritime Information Center indicated that recent assessments of shipping signals in the strait show the number of transiting vessels has fallen to single digits, with only two confirmed commercial transits observed in the past 24 hours. According to the multinational maritime advisory group focused on the Middle East, these transits involved cargo ships rather than oil tankers.