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Iran has escalated its attacks aimed at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the U.S. and Israel to end the war, targeting oil fields and refineries in a handful of Gulf Arab nations.

Prices of fuels like diesel and jet fuel are surging as refineries in the region reduce production or shut completely, while fuel makers elsewhere balk at high crude prices.

Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic in the Strait of Hormuz through which about a fifth of all oil is shipped. It has also targeted oil fields and refineries in Gulf Arab nations.

The war is showing no signs of abating after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran more than a week ago, and the fallout is stoking fears of an inflation crisis. The halt to shipping through Hormuz has driven up fuel prices.

The Trump administration announced a $20 billion reinsurance program aimed at reviving shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic has all but stopped amid the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. 

U.S. oil posted the biggest weekly gain on record as the war in Iran upends critical energy market flows, with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz at a near-total halt.

Diesel prices rocketed in the immediate aftermath of the joint U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran, and the military escalation that followed set in motion a wave of geopolitical uncertainty.

Federal and local law enforcement officers have taken action to bust an organized ring of diesel thieves thought to be selling the fuel around the Port of Oakland.

With ships unable or unwilling to transit the Strait of Hormuz, producers cannot export, supertanker costs are skyrocketing and storage at many Persian Gulf refineries is filling up fast. 

President Donald Trump said the U.S. would provide insurance guarantees and naval escorts to ensure safe passage for oil tankers and other vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.