Iran exports nearly half of its oil production and uses the rest for its own domestic needs. The sliver of Iran’s oil exports that China does not purchase is shipped mainly as economic assistance or barter to two nearly bankrupt allies, Syria and Venezuela, that have little money to pay for fuel.

President Joe Biden sought to discourage Israel from attacking Iran’s oil fields, as the US looks to shape Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response to a ballistic-missile barrage and keep the region from descending into all-out war.

An already spooked energy market received further jitters on Friday after U.S. President Joe Biden suggested Israel targeting Iran's oil industry was under discussion.