Consumers are bracing for further financial strain as global oil prices surged past $100 a barrel on Thursday, driven by renewed fighting and military strikes in the Middle East that have disrupted international oil supplies. This latest spike follows a period of brief relief in June when hostilities between the U.S. and Iran had temporarily eased.
The benchmark Brent crude, an international standard, had last reached the $100 mark in May. The current escalation means that the economic pressures felt by households since the onset of the Iran war are set to intensify.
