Oil prices climbed above $70 a barrel for the first time in four months on Monday amid fears that the US airstrike that killed Iran’s top military commander may trigger a retaliation and disrupt global energy supplies. The Brent crude price hit $70.73 (£53.74), its highest level since Houthi rebels launched a drone attack on a major Saudi oil facility in September, with European stock markets also posting losses. About a fifth of the global oil supply flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping route between Oman and Iran. It was targeted last year by Iran, which seized two oil tankers in the strait. A prolonged oil price surge could raise the risk of a global economic recession and would add about 2p a litre to the price of petrol at the pumps.
London transport authorities do not expect the £18bn Crossrail line to open before autumn 2021, in the latest delay to Europe’s largest infrastructure project. The capital’s transport commissioner said the latest working assumption was that the central section of the Elizabeth line, as Crossrail will be known, will start operating between September and December next year. “We’ve looked at a delay until the later stages of 2021, in terms of our business planning assumption,” Mike Brown said. “The assumption we’ve made is, I suppose, at the pessimistic end. But it’s the pragmatic end.” Before Brown’s announcement, Transport for London had said the line would open between 2020 and March 2021. Brown told London assembly members on Monday that Crossrail had underestimated the scale of the task remaining, with some stations apparently near completion but then requiring more work to replace systems and wiring.
