The Israel-Hamas war could cause oil prices to spike across the world's energy markets, leaders in the United States and Europe have been warned.
The surprise attack in Israel has brought new calls from lawmakers for tighter US sanctions against Iran and threatened to hinder efforts to normalise relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Experts suggest either outcome could cause already-high oil prices surging.
It comes as Joe Biden faces growing inflation concerns with the global benchmark up five percent to nearly $89 a barrel of oil on Sunday night.
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Democratic and Republican lawmakers are now calling on the US president to restrict oil exports by Iran.
Energy prices have already seen a surge after Russia launched its war on Ukraine and resulted in Western sanctions against Moscow’s oil exports.
Prices are likely to rise "not so much because the conflict impacts any oil supply at the moment, but on the fear that the conflict could draw in other players such as Iran who has been backing Hamas,” Andy Lipow, head of the energy consulting firm Lipow Oil Associates told Politico.
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Energy analysts says Iran has grown more proficient at evading trade sanctions using ship-to-ship transfers to help it move discounted oil to China.
US lawmakers are urging Biden to crack down on the exports after Iran's leaders praised Hamas' attacks on Israel.
Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, a Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said: “These attacks reinforce the need for a more aggressive U.S.-Iran policy that more effectively deprives the regime and its proxies of resources."
He added: “Sanctions and sanctions enforcement — particularly Chinese purchases of Iranian oil — need vast improvement.”
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"Appeasing a regime that hates America will lead to more chaos, more death, and more devastation.”
Experts have questioned the value of a crackdown on cutting off Iran’s shipments remains given its skill in evading the existing sanctions.
