Katherina Reiche cited estimates from economic institutes of around $40 billion (34.5 billion euros) worth of damage to Europe's top economy "due to high energy prices, and, of course, inflation" if the war were to continue.

Speaking at the CERAWeek energy industry conference in Houston, Texas, Reiche said that "the fragile recovery of Germany's economy is under stress right now".

According to a study by the IW economic institute in Cologne, a scenario in which Brent crude oil costs $150 a barrel would cost Germany and its energy-intensive industries $80 billion over two years.

On Monday oil prices fell after US President Donald Trump said he was delaying strikes on Iranian energy sites, but jumped again on Tuesday.

Reiche took office last year in the government of conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who made boosting Germany's moribund economy one of his key campaign pledges.

After three years in the doldrums, the government had been hoping the economy would pick up speed and grow one percent in 2026.

But that is now threatened by the spike in costs after the near-total blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for oil and gas.

Reiche also raised the possibility of fuel shortages in Germany for the first time since the start of the war.

"We don't see any scarcities in terms of volume. But if the conflict doesn't end, we see this probably later, (in) April or May," she said.

Earlier this month, Reiche announced that Germany was releasing 12 percent of its oil reserves to counteract soaring global prices.

Reiche reiterated her preference not to "intervene" in markets to control prices at the pump.

However Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, from the centre-left Social Democrats, is looking into the introduction of a windfall tax on energy companies' profits.

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APRIL