France, March 5 -- Since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on 28 February, prompting retaliation by Tehran, the price of crude oil has risen by around 13 percent.

Iran has made the Strait of Hormuz a cornerstone of its counter-offensive,blocking maritime traffic along the world's most vital oil export route.

Around 20 percent of the world's daily oil consumption passes through the strait, which connects the biggest Gulf oil producers - Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and ​the United Arab Emirates - with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

The use of oil as a weapon of war is by no means new.

Following the 1973 Arab-Israeli War between Israel and neighbouring Arab countries, the Organization of the Petroleum Export...