Oil prices surge as Mideast war rages

Crude oil prices surged Friday on mounting fears about oil supply disruption during the Middle East war. The US-Israel war on Iran had upended the world's energy and transport sectors, virtually halting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Maritime traffic has all but dried up through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies run. Attacks on oilfields were reported in southern Iraq and northern Kurdistan region, which forced a US-run oilfield to cease production. Kuwait had also begun cutting production due to a lack of storage capacity.