Iran’s IRGC says it hit four vessels in the northern Gulf and three more struck mines near the strait of Hormuz

• Shipping workers: how is the Middle East conflict affecting you?

• Business live – latest updates

Oil prices jumped to a five-month high on Thursday after ​attacks in Saudi Arabia and hits to tankers in the strait of Hormuz threatened further disruptions to the world’s crude supply.

Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, rose by 3% to hit $112 a barrel for first time since 18 May.

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© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

Saudi Arabia's energy ministry says two people were killed and two others wounded in an attack on the Shaybah oil field in the kingdom's Eastern Province. TRT Haber reports that the strike comes amid a broader rise in attacks on Saudi Arabia. The field is one of the kingdom's largest oil-producing sites.

Satellites detected 9,045 fire hotspots in the Brazilian Amazon during the first half of October, a 62% jump from a year earlier, as a drought worsened by El Niño fuels blazes even as annual deforestation fell to its lowest level since 1988.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said naval mines prevented three tankers from passing through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. The announcement pushed oil prices higher amid escalating regional tension.

President Javier Milei said at the opening of the Argentina Oil & Gas Expo that the country's oil production is nearing one million barrels a day. He also defended the incentive regime drawing foreign investors to the sector.

Decision was widely expected after lobbying by Shell but will dismay environmental campaigners

• What does the UK’s approval of the Jackdaw gasfield mean?

• UK politics live – latest updates

• Business live – latest updates

The UK government has approved the controversial Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea, a widely expected move that will nonetheless dismay environmental campaigners and a number of Labour MPs.

While Labour’s 2024 election manifesto committed to a ban on new drilling licences in the North Sea, the companies behind Jackdaw and the Rosebank oilfield project, which is being decided on separately, have sought environmental approval for existing licences.

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© Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

© Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

© Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

An Australian mining company is pursuing a fresh approach to gold exploration in New Zealand's Golden Bay after its earlier bid on conservation land was turned down.

Dry spring weather across New Zealand's dairy regions has pushed wholesale milk prices higher, widening the gap between powder and fat products.

Oil companies are weighing how to spend windfall profits after the Strait of Hormuz disruption pushed energy prices to multi-year highs. Trading desks have profited from the volatility stemming from the Iran war, adding pressure on producers to decide between investment, dividends and buybacks.

The growing global use of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs is pushing consumers toward more nutrition-conscious choices, creating new export opportunities for New Zealand's premium food producers.

Argentina posted another trade surplus after exports reached $77 billion between January and September 2026, with agricultural products, minerals, gas and oil making up 73% of total sales abroad.

New Zealand's free trade agreement with India has officially taken effect, Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay said. The deal makes 57 percent of New Zealand's exports to India tariff-free, including sheep meat, wool, coal and forestry products.

Oyster growers along South Australia's coast report recovery from last year's harmful algal bloom, though the pace varies widely between regions. Farmers describe reduced stock levels and a rise in barnacle growth as lingering challenges heading into the busy summer season.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has arrived in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, to meet the foreign ministers of five Central Asian countries under the C5+1 format. Trade, investment, critical minerals and security are expected to top the agenda, with more than 200 American business executives accompanying the visit. The trip underscores Washington's push for closer economic and strategic ties with the region.

Brent crude held near $109 a barrel after Ukraine's drone strikes set fire to an oil terminal and depot in St. Petersburg, Russia. A separate rise in tanker attacks near the Strait of Hormuz added to global supply concerns.

Premium paid over French counterparts has risen to almost £30 a megawatt hour, analysis by lobby group finds

British steelmakers have been pushed further behind European rivals on electricity costs after the US-Israeli war on Iran caused a surge in global gas prices.

The premium paid by the British industry over its French counterpart has risen to almost £30 a megawatt hour (MWh), its highest level in three years, according to analysis by the lobby group UK Steel.

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© Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

Premium paid over French counterparts has risen to almost £30 a megawatt hour, analysis by lobby group finds

British steelmakers have been pushed further behind European rivals on electricity costs after the US-Israeli war on Iran caused a surge in global gas prices.

The premium paid by the British industry over its French counterpart has risen to almost £30 a megawatt hour (MWh), its highest level in three years, according to analysis by the lobby group UK Steel.

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© Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

Antofagasta plc said a strike at its Centinela copper mine in Chile has ended after reaching a deal with unions. The company has not yet disclosed further details of the agreement. Centinela is closely watched given Chile's weight in global copper supply.

Firms turning crude oil into the ‘workhorse’ fuel stand to gain most despite economic fallout from record prices

• Business live – latest updates

Days after Donald Trump announced a deal to import Russian diesel into the US in an effort to lower soaring pump prices, the world’s energy watchdog has warned that the global fuel shortage will drag into 2027.

Trump’s temporary sanctions reprieve was criticised for offering “too little, too late” to temper the sky high pump prices triggered by the shutdown of war-damaged refineries in the Middle East and Russia – once the world’s second-largest diesel exporter behind the US.

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© Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP

© Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP

© Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP

Analysts say fuel will take weeks to ship and quantity is too small to affect prices, while full deal is unlikely to be met given damage to Russian refineries

• Trump announces partial ceasefire but Zelenskyy says deal is ‘news to me’

Donald Trump’s deal with Vladimir Putin to temporarily lift sanctions on US imports of Russian diesel will have little “meaningful” effect on motorists and businesses in the US and overseas, energy and foreign policy analysts have predicted.

The US president infuriated Volodymyr Zelenskyy when he announced the deal on Friday, writing on Truth Social that the agreement with his Russia counterpart to supply millions of tonnes of diesel was essential to reduce fuel prices in the US, which have soared after his decision to go to war against Iran.

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© Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images