Dawn
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09:24 Mar 09, 2026
The war in the Middle East has formally landed on Pakistan’s shores. The government’s announcement of an emergency Rs55 per litre oil price adjustment on Friday night could well be the first of more to come. More so, the sheer availability of fuel is now an open question, despite the 28 days of stocks that we were assured the country maintains. Dawn spoke to oil industry executives who say oil markets are now roiled with an uncertainty never seen before. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has taken an estimated 20 million barrels per day (mbd) cumulative off global oil markets in what is being called “the largest oil supply disruption in history”. There is no precedent in the past when a quantity of this magnitude was suddenly removed from the market, not even in the oil embargo of 1973. The impact, according to a note by Goldman Sachs circulated on Friday, is that “oil prices, especially for refined products, would exceed the 2008 and 2022 peaks, if Strait of Hormuz flows were to remain depressed throughout...