Global oil supply likely to remain stable amid escalating Israel-Iran conflict: market expert

A global oil market expert based in Dubai has responded to the concerns that the Middle East oil supply could be disrupted as the conflict between Israel and Iran intensifies, particularly after Israel hit a major gas field in Iran.

In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Amena Bakr, head of Middle East Energy and OPEC-plus research at Kpler, a consulting firm based in Brussels, said the disruption is so far limited in scope.

"This region is responsible for a lot of the production or supplies that go to the markets. So it's very vulnerable when we're looking at oil markets here. So far, according to Kpler's data, and we monitor all the shipping that takes place out of all ports in the region and worldwide. So far, I mean, this is only impacting domestic supply in Iran. Iran exports around 1.6, 1.7 million barrels a day. And yes, OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) does have that spare capacity. It still has a cushion of spare capacity," she said.

The deadly conflict between Israel and Iran entered its fifth day on Tuesday, with both sides continuing to launch attacks from Monday night into Tuesday morning.

Israel has said that these strikes could last for several weeks. The potential for a drawn out conflict has sparked concern among global investors that Iran might close the Straits of Hormuz, one of the world's most important oil chokepoints located between Oman and Iran.

"That would be a catastrophic, scenario. The closure of Hormuz is very, very significant. I still believe that it's, very unlikely that Iran takes this step. I know that there have been kind of threats, but these are from low level officials," Bakr said.

"So therefore I don't think it's a very likely option that they close off the Strait. And if that happens, we've seen statements in the past from the Fifth Fleet that they would immediately intervene and unblock the Strait. 20 percent of the world's oil, travels through the Strait of Hormuz. So that's a quite a big volume. And you have pipelines in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia and the UAE that can divert some of this oil out. Around 6 million or 6.5 million barrels a day could be diverted, but that would send oil prices into the three digit zone. And I don't think anyone in the U.S. or Europe would like to see that and the impact it would have on global demand as well. So that's a kind of very, very extreme scenario. And I say that it's, it's unlikely for now," she added.

Global oil supply likely to remain stable amid escalating Israel-Iran conflict: market expert

The death toll from a landfill collapse in the central Philippine city of Cebu has risen to eight by Monday morning as search and rescue operations continued for another 28 missing people.

The landfill collapse occurred on Thursday as dozens of sanitation workers were working at the site. The disaster has already caused injuries of 18 people.

Family members of the missing people said the rescue progress is slow, and the hope for the survival of their loved ones is fading.

"For me, maybe I’ve accepted the worst result already because the garbage is poisonous and yesterday, it was raining very hard the whole day. Maybe they’ve been poisoned. For us, alive or dead, I hope we can get their bodies out of the garbage rubble," said Maria Kareen Rubin, a family member of a victim.

Families have set up camps on high ground near the landfill, awaiting news of their relatives. Some people at the site said cries for help could still be heard hours after the landfill collapsed, but these voices gradually faded away.

Bienvenido Ranido, who lost his wife in the disaster, said he can't believe all that happened.

"After they gave my wife oxygen, my kids and I were expecting that she would be saved that night because she was still alive. But the night came and till the next morning, they didn't manage to save her," he said.

Death toll in central Philippine landfill collapse rises to eight