Factories Face Fuel Crisis as Oil Tops $90 and Manufacturing Costs Spiral

Factories and manufacturers around the world are bracing for a severe fuel cost crisis as oil surges past $90 a barrel following the Iran conflict, threatening to ignite a spiral of manufacturing cost increases that could feed through to consumer prices for months to come. Energy is an input into virtually every industrial process, and a more than 25% weekly surge in crude prices represents one of the most severe manufacturing cost shocks in recent years.
The vulnerability is greatest for energy-intensive industries: chemicals, metals, cement, glass, ceramics, and food processing are among the sectors that face the most immediate and severe impact from higher oil prices. For these industries, energy can account for 30–50% of total production costs, meaning that a 25% rise in oil prices directly translates into a significant increase in overall manufacturing expenses.
The situation is compounded by the disruption to natural gas supplies. Qatar, which accounts for roughly 20% of global LNG supply, has had a key export terminal damaged by a drone strike and faces a recovery measured in weeks or months. European gas prices have surged to three-year highs, adding to the energy cost pressure on manufacturers who use gas as a direct production input. Many European industries that had only recently recovered from the energy cost shock of 2022 are now facing a potential repeat.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are on course to face the same storage constraints that have already forced Kuwait to cut production, with energy consultants putting a 20-day deadline on the crisis. Qatar’s energy minister has warned of oil at $150 if all Gulf exporters halt production — a price that would make many industrial processes economically unviable and trigger widespread factory shutdowns in major importing countries.
Financial markets have already priced in much of the cost pressure. Stock markets fell sharply across Asia, Europe, and the UK, with industrial and energy-intensive sectors among the biggest losers. Bond yields surged as inflation expectations rose, and central banks were forced to abandon rate-cutting plans. For manufacturers watching the oil price with mounting concern, the message from markets is clear: the fuel cost crisis has arrived, and it is not going away soon.