A sustained escalation of the US/Israel–Iran conflict could push global oil markets beyond a price shock into severe physical shortages, with rationing, supply chain disruption and recessionary pressures becoming increasingly likely.

Singapore’s reclaimed oil refining region, the 32-square-kilometre Jurong Island, has become the primary driver of record-high petrol prices in Australia as Middle East supply shocks ripple through the Asia-Pacific energy corridor.

Reforms to oil, mining and financial laws have accelerated since the fall of Maduro, but legal ambiguity, institutional weakness and unresolved questions over democracy are tempering enthusiasm among investors, Orinoco Research says.