Oil and Gas Jump as Iran Strikes Gulf Energy Infrastructure

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last trading. European gas prices surge more than 20 percent after Iran strikes the world's

largest LNG plant, plus Israel digs in for a protracted fight in Lebanon. It definitely

raises the stakes. Another large-scale Israeli military operation in Lebanon could lead the country

to spiral into civil conflict at a sensitive time. And US shoppers hunt for bargains in a boost

for discount retailers. It's Thursday, March 19th. I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal,

and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving our world

today. Iran is dialing up its attacks on Gulf energy facilities a day after Israel struck a

vital Iranian gas field. Qatar is reporting extensive damage to a major gas hub, Kuwait,

says that two of its refineries are ablaze after drone attacks, and a Saudi official says that

a refinery, outside of the capital Riyadh, was hit by a ballistic missile late yesterday,

generating a massive fireball. Following the attacks, Brent Crude Futures,

Mars, sitting north of $116 a barrel this morning, an 8 percent jump. US gasoline prices have

climbed a further four cents overnight, according to AAA, and European natural gas prices have

surged more than 20 percent as traders assessed that the Iran War has entered a new and even more

volatile phase. Editor Peter Landers has been overseeing the journal's Iran Live Blog overnight

from Singapore. Peter, I think we suspected yesterday the Israeli attack on Iran's south

powers gas fields was going to trigger some sort of major reaction, and boy, we have now seen that,

and we've even heard from President Trump overnight now warning on social media that while he

doesn't want to do it, he would just blow up that Iranian gas field if they dared to attack

Qatar again. That's right. This is a new stage of the war where core energy facilities on both sides

are being attacked. It's definitely the question going forward is there going to be a cycle of

escalation where each one attacks even more facilities on the other side, and I think what

the real gist of President Trump's message was that he does not want to see that cycle of

escalation. He's saying he did not know about the Israeli attack ahead of time. Some Wall Street

Journal reporting suggests that he did know, and that Israel did tell the US that this was coming,

but whatever he might have known or not known, he's saying let's hold it back now. We don't expect

further Israeli attacks on those Iranian facilities, and he expects that Iran will likewise hold

back from repeating what it did to Qatar. I already highlighted Peter some of the commodity price

movement that the fighting yesterday and overnight has triggered, but this is certainly relevant

in Asian markets. This is cropping up in equities now too. Right. Japan's the Nika average is down

sharply again today, and we've seen markets in places like Japan and South Korea really gyrate over

the last couple of weeks as the war develops, because these Asian economies are so dependent on oil

and gas imports from the Middle East, from places like Qatar, the natural gas field there. You

already see production, for example, of ethylene in Japan being curtailed because some of the feedstock

is less available or is so costly that they can't reasonably manufacture some of these chemical

products. And Peter, there are similar pressures in Europe, right, with it looking all but certain

now that these two continents are going to be basically bidding against each other for potentially

limited energy supplies in the months to come. That's right. They're both the importers and

they both, as you said, need to compete for these supplies. The price is going to go up. I think

they'll be pressure for conservation in both continents already. We've seen some, especially

in the some of the poor countries, governments urging people to use less electricity, turn off the

heat, turn off the air conditioning, whatever it may be. And definitely they're trying to curtail

consumption because the production for the time being doesn't seem likely to recover.

On the other hand, Peter, the US may still have a little bit more breathing room here. A new

journal survey of economists out this morning shows that the US would need to see oil prices

of $135 a barrel for several months in order for the risk of a recession to jump past 50 percent.

And as we've seen with the US trying to get more oil onto global markets, be it from Venezuela

or from Russia, thanks to East Sanctions. Maybe there is some light at the supply side end of the

tunnel here. Right. The whole world is responding to the shortfall of shortfall supply from

the Middle East. And Russia has to be a big beneficiary that here they may be able to sell more oil

thanks to the US loosening sanctions. And they'll be able to sell it, of course, for a much higher price

than they were before. And at less of a discount to the world price than they were previously able

to do. And just in general, I think the reason that people are as worried as you might think about

out of recession in the US is simply that the US produces its own oil and its own natural gas.

Gas consumers are paying more at the pump, but producers that have big holdings in US oil and gas

fields, they stand to gain from this energy crisis. And they can perhaps export more to countries

like Japan, South Korea, China, and elsewhere. And before we go, Peter, you were based in Japan

for a long time. And we are seeing that country's prime minister. So I take each of you going to

the White House today, a meeting that I expect she wants to be about a whole lot of issues, but

that could boil down to what is Japan doing or not doing to help open up the state of Hormuz. This

has become kind of a litmus test about how much of an ally anyone is. Right. She's really walking

delicate type rope when she meets President Trump. And the president himself has gone back and forth

about whether he needs the help of allies to clear up the state of Hormuz. But if he does demand

that Japan sends, for example, minesweepers or other naval ships to the state of Hormuz to help

clear the traffic, I think that puts Prime Minister Takaichi in a very difficult position because

it's probably illegal under Japanese law for her to do that right now. Well, the bullets are

flying while the missiles are flying. But I think she will also try to suggest to the president

that under different circumstances, for example, if there is a ceasefire that Japan is willing to

cooperate. So she doesn't want to just say, never or no, I can't help. Sorry. And I think it's a

different attitude than we see from some of the European countries and Canada, which say we simply

cannot trust Trump. We can't trust the United States anymore. We really are not at all enthusiastic

about cooperating. Well, we'll be watching that White House meeting very closely. Peter Landers

is the journal's Asia, business, finance and economics editor based in Singapore. Peter, thank

you so much. You bet. Meanwhile, Israeli strikes in Lebanon are continuing to escalate and now moving

into the heart of the capital, Beirut. That was the sound of an airstrike that leveled a multi-story

apartment building yesterday. At the same time in southern Lebanon, Israeli troops are going deeper

into the country as part of a ground invasion launched this week. General reporter Anad Pellet

told me it's part of Israel's broadening campaign against Iran as it targets one of its most

powerful regional allies, Hezbollah. The idea is to weaken Hezbollah and they're trying to also

remove the threat from Israel's northern communities as they go and deeper. It definitely raises the

stakes. Israel has faced difficulty stamping out groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. Another large

scale Israeli military operation in Lebanon could lead the country to spiral into civil conflict

at a sensitive time as it did in the 1980s. We're varying and dangerous territory.

Not this week. We've seen the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the UK express concern

over this fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, citing the risk of a protracted conflict that

could have devastating humanitarian consequences. And we can already see some of those consequences.

So we have almost a million people displaced from southern Lebanon, which is a very high number

after Israel issued evacuation orders for all of southern Lebanon and that is according to the

UN. And basically Lebanese leaders are now communicating their willingness to hold rare direct

government level talks with Israel, according to officials from Lebanon and France, which would help

mediate. But Israel really doesn't believe that the Lebanese government, the Lebanese army,

will be able to dismantle Hezbollah. So it has a US-backed army that's quite weak and it's long

been outmatched by Hezbollah. It's made strides and dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure and

seizing weapons in areas of the south. But little progress has been made in other areas and that

makes it difficult because the Lebanese government has little to offer a negotiations.

Lebanon's health ministry says that more than 950 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in

the country since Hezbollah entered the wider Iran war by firing rockets at Israel.

Coming up, we've got the rest of the day's markets and business news and look at what effect

knowing Banksy's real name will have on the value of his art. That's after the break.

In a new episode of Tech Fluential, Deloitte's Ludi Lorenzo talks with Gabriella Ricci, Chief

Data and Technology Officer Takeda and Karen Antirell, board member and former Chief Digital

and Technology Officer across industries on the role leaders play in operationalizing AI

at scale, moving from experimentation to accountability. They discuss how leaders can embed AI

into core operations and measure success by outcomes instead of pilots. Where technology and

influence converge, new opportunities can emerge. That's Tech Fluential, a podcast from Deloitte

and custom content from WSJ. In Marcus News, shares of memory chipmaker

Micron are down off hours, despite reporting a near tripling in Q2 sales compared to last year,

with demand outpacing supply. High prices for memory and squeezed supply have been a hot topic

of conversation across the tech sector as companies scrambled to stay ahead in the AI race.

Analysts are expecting memory shortages to persist through 2027. Meanwhile, shares of

discount retailer 5 below surged off hours after it reported a higher quarterly profit in sales

with customers flocking to its stores during the key holiday shopping period. While the results

validate the company's simplified pricing structure and its marketing efforts geared at Gen Z,

Gen Alpha and Millennial Moms, CFO David Sullivan voiced concern about the health of US consumers.

We just don't think it gets easier from here, whether it's the prices at the pump or the sticky

inflation that seems to be hanging around or a job market that is somewhat sluggish. We think

the environment here is going to continue to be challenging. And the Bank of Japan held interest

steady today, noting the possibility that higher energy costs may accelerate underlying inflation.

The Bank of England and European Central Bank are expected to follow suit in the coming hours,

as the war upends their forecasts, both are staring down a worrying mixture of weaker growth and

higher inflation in the coming months than they initially expected.

And finally, one of the art world's greatest mysteries appears to have been solved again.

The British street artist Banksy has built a career on anonymity, but a new Reuters investigation

identifies the elusive street artist as Robin Gunningham, a man in his fifties from Bristol, England

who went to a top school. Reuters used court documents and police records to unmask Banksy,

even though his name was revealed almost two decades ago in the British tabloids.

But far from denting his mystique, WSJ reporter Kelly Crome says that the art market is likely to

respond positively to learning whose art is up for auction. I was surprised to find that a lot of

collectors and dealers I spoke with were thrilled to know a little bit more about him. Collectors like

to know more than less and markets reward clarity and stability over volatility. We know this in

other marketplaces. It's fascinating that even in the realm of art where people love a good

story, they also kind of want to know who they're buying from. Even just knowing that, you know,

it's a bloke from Bristol helps shore up some of that weariness and they're protecting that

Banksy's prices could get a little bump from this reveal. Reports have also noted that Banksy

legally changed his name to the very common sounding David Jones, though that too could earn him

some street cred, given it was also the real name of one David Bowie. And that's it for what's

news for this Thursday morning. Today's show was produced by Hattie Moyer, our supervising producer

was Daniel Bach. And for the Wall Street Journal, I'm Luke Vargas, my real name, no pseudonyms.

We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.

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