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 rundown.

Monday, March 2nd, 2026.

Oil markets are on edge today.

Its operation, ethic, fury continues,

and conflict in the Middle East escalates.

Could 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.

Compounding that concern are reports that Iran is moving

to restrict passage in the state 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 move 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 DeAngelis is the co-host of The Big Money Show

on the Fox Business Network.

Jackie's always so great to have you.

Thank you.

Okay, 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 is investor 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, their American issues,

that if you keep kicking the can down the road,

eventually can hit us very close to home.

Because while we did through Operation Midnight Hammer slow 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 way 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 sees the moment,

uprise, take back your government,

your freedom, this is your moment.

But are you confident that after what, 47 years of horrendous brutality

that they can seize the moment that 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 Street 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 Street of Hormuz

that hurts them more than us.

Oil markets kept flowing.

But there have been some worries this time

that oil tinkers can't get the insurance needed

to pass through.

Look, that Street 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 rally the market as much as they used to

because US production is so substantial.

And we make up a big portion of the market

that we didn't used 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 straight 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 chess board 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 chips

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.

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, you know, 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.

Interesting.

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 30 cents per gallon at the pump.

So if you go from 70 to 80,

I go from maybe three bucks to 330 if 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.

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.

But I think he's always doing a calculation

and he understands that a 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 US 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.

Then we were maybe 30 years ago

when a lot of just normal retail participants

weren't engaged in the market.

Is there a risk in equity markets?

I should note midday on Monday,

actually like relatively calm.

I think at one point,

the Nasdaq 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,

taking a big dive downward.

But I also think long term,

he's thinking about the strife 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 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.

It 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 Union was only like six days ago.

And here we are.

And the conversation has turned once again.

Such a pleasure.

Thank you for joining us.