Dubai: Oil above $100 a barrel is spilling from global energy markets onto the streets, triggering protests, transport strikes, shortages, and growing pressure on governments from Asia to Europe and Latin America.

As the Iran war squeezes energy supplies and threatens key shipping routes, households and businesses are being hit by higher transport and electricity costs. The impact is particularly severe in developing economies heavily dependent on imported energy. Governments face a difficult choice: pass higher costs to consumers and risk inflation and public anger, or increase subsidies and support measures that could strain public finances.

Syria has seen some of the largest demonstrations after the government temporarily raised diesel prices by about 40 percent and gasoline prices by more than 25 percent. Protesters burned tyres and blocked roads, with one demonstrator telling Reuters: "All those present here want a reduction in diesel prices. We don't want higher wages, we want cheaper fuel."

In Indonesia, fuel shortages, blackouts, and rationing have fuelled anger, with taxi drivers protesting against rationing based on odd and even vehicle registration numbers. In the Philippines, transport workers went on strike demanding subsidies and the scrapping of fuel taxes, while some fishermen around Manila Bay have stayed ashore because they cannot afford fuel. Vietnam has also seen ride-hailing drivers call for a boycott.

Bangladesh, which imports more than 90 percent of its petroleum, is suffering power shortages that have forced rationing and temporary closures at garment factories. In Sri Lanka, fuel distributors have begun restricting supplies, while Pakistan has announced a Rs100-per-litre subsidy for motorcycles, rickshaws, and small cars. Nepal has seen student protests over cooking gas shortages.

In Guatemala, truckers and protesters have blocked highways, with Congress considering legislation to cap fuel prices. In Europe, Portuguese drivers have staged slow-moving protests and demonstrators marched to the Prime Minister's home, while about 50 fishermen in southern France blockaded a major fuel depot at Fos-sur-Mer.

The protests expose the wider danger from prolonged high oil prices. Diesel powers trucks, buses, fishing vessels, farms, and factories, meaning higher energy costs quickly feed through to food, transport, and other essentials. Governments can cushion consumers through subsidies, tax cuts, and price caps, but the longer oil stays elevated, the more expensive those measures become. From burning tyres in Syria and fuel queues in Asia to road blockades in Guatemala and protesting fishermen in France, the oil shock is increasingly becoming a cost-of-living crisis on the streets.

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