Oil prices soared more than 6 percent on worries about prolonged supply disruption in the Strait of Hormuz and fears of a lengthy US siege of Iranian ports, settling at their highest levels in weeks.
US crude settled up 6.95 percent at $106.88 per barrel on Wednesday, and Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 6.08 percent, or $6.77, at $118.03 after earlier touching its highest price since June 2022, the Reuters news agency reports.
Brent crude futures for June continued to rise on Thursday to $119.94 per barrel as of 00:57 GMT, and US West Texas Intermediate futures were at $107.51, Reuters said.
Oil prices continue to surge with no resolution in sight to the two-month-long US-Israel war on Iran, and as supplies of fuel remain snarled in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian forces have imposed a blockade on the transit of vessels and the US is besieging Iranian ports and shipping.
A White House official said on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump had asked US oil companies about ways to mitigate the impact of a potentially months-long siege of Iranian ports.
The president and the oil executives “discussed the steps President Trump has taken to alleviate global oil markets and steps we could take to continue the current blockade for months if needed and minimize impact on American consumers,” the White House official said.
News of Trump’s talks with oil executives triggered concerns in the market of an extended disruption to oil supplies, Reuters reports, and came as the Pentagon revealed for the first time that the war on Iran has cost the US military $25bn so far.
“Prospects for any near-term resolution to the Iran conflict or a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz remain dim,” IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note on the current situation.
