12th Mar 2026 06:33
(Alliance News) - UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government will "step in" if companies exploit rising heating oil prices amid the Middle East conflict.
Prices have jumped after Iran launched retaliatory strikes following attacks by the US and Israel, pushing up energy costs and sending home heating oil bills soaring.
Ahead of a visit to Northern Ireland on Thursday, Starmer acknowledged that "global instability has real impacts on the lives of working people across the UK".
He said: "Let me be clear, we will not tolerate profiteering or unfair practices.
"If companies fleece customers or rip them off, we will not hesitate to step in, and that includes on regulation."
Threats from Tehran have choked shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global oil and gas supplies.
On Wednesday, the International Energy Agency said it would release 400 million barrels of oil onto global markets, including 13.5 million from the UK, to prevent short-term market disruption.
Prices reached near four-year highs above 100 US dollars a barrel on Monday, before falling on Tuesday as US President Donald Trump signalled the war could soon be over.
Early on Thursday, the price of Brent crude oil – the international benchmark – topped USD100 per barrel, while the US crude oil price rose to about USD95 a barrel.
Speaking at a rally in Kentucky on Wednesday evening, Trump said his administration was working to keep oil flowing, telling supporters the US had already "won" the conflict with Iran.
"Let me say we've won. You know, you never like to say too early you won. We won. We won, in the first hour it was over, but we won," the president said.
He added the US did not want to "leave early", telling crowds: "We got to finish the job."
The US Central Command said earlier in the week that US forces had "eliminated multiple Iranian naval vessels", including "16 minelayers", near the Strait of Hormuz.
The latest developments come after Rachel Reeves admitted it was "certainly not good for the British economy to have trade disrupted" and signalled the government may be willing to move on energy prices if the conflict worsens.
Appearing before Parliament's Treasury Committee on Wednesday, the UK chancellor said the Treasury was looking at "a number of scenarios" but added it would be "unwise to speculate" on the ongoing economic fallout of the Iran war.
Reeves told MPs: "It's certainly not good for the British economy to have trade disrupted, and especially when so much oil and gas comes from that part of the world.
"But the best thing that we can do as a government is to seek to de-escalate this conflict."
She added: "The quicker we can de-escalate, the better it will be for all of those different economic variables."
As regional tensions continue to escalate, at least one person was killed, and Iraqi oil operations were halted during an attack on the country's Basra port, according to The Associated Press.
Local officials reported that the assault targeted vessels in a ship-to-ship transfer of oil area.
Elsewhere, the UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre said it had received reports that a container ship had been hit by an "unknown projectile" in the Persian Gulf on Thursday, off the coast of Dubai's Jebel Ali port.
It reported the attack caused a "small fire" and all crew were safe.
By Jessica Coates, Press Association
Press Association: News
source: PA
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