KUALA LUMPUR, April 20 – The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) is closely monitoring reports on the Middle East conflict for a possible escalation in the region.
Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said so far, shipments through the Red Sea shipping route were “still quite calm at the moment.”
“Nevertheless, oil prices will be affected if the situation escalates because that route is the key route for oil exports,” he said on Friday.
At the time of writing, the benchmark Brent crude oil prices rose 0.31 per cent to US$87.38 per barrel while WTI crude increased 0.47 per cent to US$83.12 per barrel.
There are concerns that the escalation of the conflict between Iran and Israel could bring about instability in the Persian Gulf region and disrupt shipping routes, cutting supplies off between Europe and Asia, including Malaysia.
