Middle East War Could Cause Gas Crisis in Idaho

I needed gas Tuesday afternoon and stopped at some pumps on the drive home. There was a line of cars and trucks. It took a minute to register. This was a couple of hours after the Iranian missile attack on Israel. Oil prices jumped by two and a half to five percent, depending on the source of the oil market. People paying attention were filling up before it translated to their end of the supply chain.

I mentioned what I saw on Facebook; at least one other person replied and witnessed the same rush. This morning I saw a social media post from a friend who said her local Costco had a run on toilet paper.

One scenario is caused by a potential wider war in the Middle East. Another was by a longshoremen’s strike at eastern and Gulf Coast ports.

As I write this, Election Day is less than five weeks away.

Harold MacMillan was a British Prime Minister. He was once asked what his greatest political challenge was. He famously replied, “Events, dear boy, events”.

The stroke could end up getting settled in a few days. While I doubt that soon, from what I’ve read, the union is likely to get what it demands.

Oil markets are a different matter, but not as volatile as they were a generation ago. That’s because of the increased domestic production brought about by hydraulic fracturing. Known by shorthand as fracking. One candidate was opposed to fracking until she wasn’t.

But keep in mind events are likely to impact her prospects for the worse rather than the better.