World leaders eye oil reserves, but so far hold off on tapping them

A widening war in Iran has halted oil tankers, made targets of refineries and spooked investors worried about the cascading impact of spiking energy prices. If it might seem like the ideal time to dip into the world’s emergency oil stockpiles, global leaders have so far responded with reluctance. Since war erupted in the Middle East on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, the flow of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz has all but stopped, cutting off a vital passageway for a huge amount of the world’s oil.