Economic growth was much slower than expected in the final three months of 2025 while core inflation rose to start 2026, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Gross domestic product, a measure of all the goods and services produced across the sprawling U.S. economy, rose at a seasonally and inflation-adjusted annual rate of just 0.7% in…
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth holds a briefing amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 2, 2026. Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday brushed aside concerns that the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz because of the Iran war, which has spiked…
The Callisto tanker sits anchored in Port Sultan Qaboos as the traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Muscat, Oman, March 12, 2026. Benoit Tessier | Reuters Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, held above $100 on Friday morning as the U.S.-Iran war heads toward its third…
Commercial vessels are pictured offshore in Dubai on March 11, 2026. – | Afp | Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets opened lower Friday as oil prices soared on renewed fears that a prolonged conflict in the Middle East could further crimp energy supplies, stoking fears of a global economic downturn. Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei…
Russian supertanker Astro Lupus waits to unload its cargo of the first direct shipment of Russian crude oil on July 3, 2002 in the Gulf of Mexico. Pool | Afp | Getty Images The U.S. on Thursday temporarily authorized the purchase of Russian oil stranded at sea to stabilize energy markets. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott…
The U.S. Navy will begin escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz as soon as “militarily possible,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Sky News on Thursday. “That was always in our planning, that there’s the chance that the U.S. Navy or perhaps an international coalition will be escorting oil tankers through,” Bessent said in that…
A pump jack is seen at sunrise near Bakersfield, California October 14, 2014. Lucy Nicholson | Reuters Oil prices surged more than 8% with Brent crude hitting $100 per barrel Thursday, as traders remain unconvinced that release of government stockpiles could offset the massive supply shock triggered by the war in the Middle East. The…
The U.S. will release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help lower energy costs during the Iran war, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday evening. The U.S. will start releasing barrels next week but it will take about 120 days to deliver them all, Wright said. President Donald Trump said…
Iran appoints Mojtaba Khamenei as its new supreme leader. Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images The U.S. achieved a quick victory when its first strikes on Iran killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader for nearly 37 years. But news that the country had appointed Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as his successor, along with…
A family sits against the backdrop of a dockyard off the coastal city of Fujairah, in the Strait of Hormuz in the northern Emirate on Feb. 25, 2026. Giuseppe Cacace | Afp | Getty Images Oil prices moved higher early on Wednesday, despite a report that there would be a historic release of emergency reserves…
