Business Rundown: Oil, Iran & How Strikes Will Impact Prices at the Pump

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I'm Taylor Riggs, and this is The Fox Business Run Down.

Monday, March 2nd, 2026, oil markets are on edge today, as Operation Epic Fury continues

and conflict in the Middle East escalates.

But we see $100 a barrel, oil prices, again, they could shut the straight down, and that

would be significant if that perks them too, because what funds their operations, their

oil being sold to China on the black market.

And I think China's a really big piece of this oil story.

Oil prices are surging, following this weekend's U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, fears

mount that the conflict could drag on for weeks.

Some pounding that concern are reports that Iran is moving to restrict passage in the

straight of Hormuz, the world's most critical oil export route.

A prolonged blockade and the potential targeting of oil facilities could create a severe

global supply crunch.

The destabilization of the region is also impacting other industries, including travel and

banking.

Meanwhile, gold and the dollar saw a balance as investors moved to safety, fearing the

military operation could be prolonged.

So while there are jitters today, what can we expect in the coming days, weeks and months

when it comes to the price of oil, the markets, and the cost of filling up your car?

Jackie D'Angeles is the co-host of The Big Money Show on The Fox Business Network.

Jackie's always so great to have you.

Thank you.

You know, we could do the stock market, we could do oil.

I think first I just want to step back because you've talked a lot about your Iranian heritage.

What does just this moment mean?

I think big picture as investors step back and think about this supreme leader that was

killed over the weekend and just sort of this moment in time.

I think it's historic.

I think it's something that Iranians like me who live in America.

I was born here, but my mom did come here before the revolution.

You know, never thought they would see in their lifetime.

And there are so many reasons that this was the right time for it because the president

has stressed national security issues.

These are global issues, they're American issues that if you keep kicking the can down

the road, eventually hit us very close to home.

Because while we did through Operation Midnight Hammer slowed down the process of nuclearization,

it doesn't mean that the Iranians had committed to stopping it completely.

And so it was only a matter of time before they would enrich uranium and build back their

stock.

So the president's taking the bull by the horns here and saying, this is not going to go

on anymore in that realm, but he also made a promise to all those student protesters

in Iran when he drew red line and he said, if you protest your government and they kill

you, I am going to have your back.

And he has had their back as a result of the brutality that we saw the last couple of months.

So I think that this is an opportunity to move forward globally, to move forward as

Americans and for the Iranian people to take back their freedom and their country.

And that's our going to go with the Iranian people because the president has said, you

know, this isn't Americans coming in for regime change.

He in a posted video over the weekend said, this is your moment, your time, seize the moment,

uprise, take back your government, your freedom, this is your moment.

What are you confident that after what, 47 years of horrendous brutality that they can

seize the moment, the people on the ground?

I think so and here's why because the American forces and the Israeli forces were so precise

and so swift, I didn't expect to hear that more than 40 officials would be taken out

in that first operation, including the supreme leader.

And that tells me the intelligence on the ground is phenomenal.

And that, you know, the Americans and the Israelis are committed to this.

The president realizes what the situation is, that people don't want boots on the ground

there.

And he wants to be able to sort of give the people, the lift that they need to be able

to do their part of it while also securing our part, which is to make sure that nuclear

weapons do not move forward.

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Part of securing our part has been looking at oil prices and you've done a lot of research

on and reporting on oil markets in your history.

There's been some concern about the Strait of Hormuz during midnight hammer operation when

we hit a lot of their bunker bastards and tried to disrupt their nuclear building up

of those sites.

We came on this program and we thought, you know what, they're not going to shut the

Strait of Hormuz that hurts them more than us.

Oil markets kept flowing.

There have been some worries this time that oil tankers can't get the insurance needed

to pass through.

Look, that Strait is about 20% of global oil supply and you are seeing oil prices jump

significantly today.

Yeah.

How concerned are you about the price of oil?

Well, you and I have talked about in the past how small conflicts in the Middle East don't

row the market as much as they used to because U.S. production is so substantial and we make

up a big portion of the market that we didn't use to 20, 30 years ago.

So that is a good thing.

This situation is a little different because Operation Midnight Hammer was pretty swift

and the Iranians really didn't retaliate, but obviously they are here.

Having said that to me, they're acting like a snake with their head cut off, desperate,

going after other countries in the region, going after the United States and Israel as well.

So they could shut the Strait down and that would be significant, but that hurts them

too because what funds their operations, their oil being sold to China on the black market.

And I think China is a really big piece of this oil story also for President Trump and

I think that it is not a coincidence that he went after Maduro the way he did timing wise

when you look at sort of the larger chessboard of this.

China was buying about half of Venezuela's oil exports and they're buying about 90% of

what Iran has to offer.

So when you choke that supply, which effectively we've done, you're hurting China more than

you're hurting the United States.

And Iran would be foolish not to allow its own ships to be able to move through that

region to be able to get their oil out.

But you never know, like I said, desperate times, you can't kind of take anything off

the table.

The other thing that I would say is I was just looking back in recent history.

Oil prices went to about 125, three months after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Big conflict, large scale, obviously has taken a lot longer than everybody expected.

But we are so much lower than that from our starting point right now that it gives us

a little bit of a buffer.

So you're seeing WTI right now, I think it was like $72 the last that I checked.

That's a long way off from 125.

Now, if this conflict continues at the scale that it is and for longer than everyone's

expecting, I'm not saying $100 oil isn't on the table, but I do always caution people

not to panic.

One note I read this morning said that for every $10 increase in the price per barrel

that you were citing translates to $0.30 per gallon at the pump.

So if you go from $70 to $80, I go from maybe $3 to $3.30 at the pump.

But a lot of this is duration.

If it's not just the weekend, the president has said this could be four weeks, five weeks.

I don't think anyone actually really knows how long this or short this could be.

So I guess for investors at home, does it matter about the price per barrel?

Does it matter about duration of things escalate here and it's a six week or longer issue?

I guess how should people at home be feeling?

I think if it is relatively short term, right?

Like the four weeks that the president is talking about, Americans can absorb that.

And I also think that again, I go back to the precision which the operations are being

carried out with.

I think that leads me to believe that this isn't going to be a Russia-Ukraine conflict if

it's going to take years.

So nobody was really expecting that when that war started either.

So I see this is relatively short term and I understand the risks the president was taking

on with this because he watches the markets very closely.

Gas prices have just come down in many places, especially blue states, people are just

starting to feel a little relief.

You know, in the state of the union, he's talking about affordability, oil and gas are

such a big part of that.

And so it's a little frustrating to see the benefits of that happen and then to take

on this risk at the same time.

I think he's always doing a calculation and he understands that short term risk is worth

a long term reward.

I know in our show on Monday, we're talking a lot as well about the K-shaped economy and

I do wonder so much of household wealth is caught up in the stock market, more households

than ever, which is a good thing, are participating in the U.S. equity markets.

But what that does mean is that we are now in economy that is a little bit more dependent

on the wealth effect of a stock market going up than we were maybe 30 years ago, when

a lot of just normal retail participants weren't engaged in the market.

Is there a risk?

And equity markets, I should note, mid day on Monday, actually like relatively calm.

I think at one point the snack had even turned positive.

But is there a risk that if this sort of is a drawn out thing and equity markets make

a serious repricing?

Does that also force the president's hand or make consumers lose that wealth effect that

they had really been benefiting from what was at 52 record highs in the market under presidents

first year?

He watches the market.

He makes that very clear to us.

We know that.

We know he's watching.

We know he was watching in April after Liberation Day as well and sometimes he does I think

respond when he sees the market, you know, taking a big dive downward.

But I also think long term he's thinking about the stride that we've made over the past

year, all of the policies he's implemented here and the growth that he's expecting to

help fuel companies and fuel the stock market.

And when this is all said and done, if their plan goes, you know, the way it's supposed

to be executed, you will see a much stronger America.

You will see a much stronger world.

And therefore I would have to imagine that equity markets will benefit from that.

So I just, you know, bring up Liberation Day.

Everybody was panicked and all ended up working out.

I think and I have no crystal ball, but my personal feeling is that this will too.

Well, Jackie, we love having you on the program.

This has been a wild weekend.

Yes.

I do think that the State of Union was only like six days ago and here we are and the conversation

has turned once again.

It's such a pleasure.

Thank you for joining us.