Oil prices surpassed $100 a barrel (bbl) on Wednesday 9 September, reaching their highest level in more than six weeks as fresh hostilities in the Middle East fuelled worries about potential disruptions to oil exports from the region.
By 08:02 GMT, Brent crude was trading at $99.93/bbl, up by $2.01 or 2.05%, after touching $100.19 earlier in the session, reported Reuters.
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Meanwhile, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude also strengthened, increasing by $1.49, or 1.60%, to reach $94.52/bbl.
Brent crude prices have surged by 25% since early August. This increase was driven by growing uncertainty, as fading prospects of a permanent solution coincided with intensifying fighting.
The situation escalated on Tuesday when the Iranian-backed Houthi group in Yemen carried out strikes on several Saudi cities, increasing pressure on a key US ally.
US forces responded by destroying five Iranian oil tankers, an operation shared publicly by US Central Command. It has been described as retaliation after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles earlier in the week.
According to Reuters, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters during a visit to Colombia: “Iran continues to try to hit US naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they are going to lose tankers.”
Subsequently, Iran’s IRGC announced it had launched ballistic missiles at a US military base in Jordan and attacked ten ships – two US vessels and eight oil tankers – in a banned area of the Strait of Hormuz.
Jordanian authorities reported intercepting 18 out of 20 Iranian missiles, with the remainder falling in uninhabited locations and causing no casualties.
The US described Iran’s attack in Jordan as ineffective.
The escalation has disrupted a month of relative calm, bringing fresh attacks on military, shipping and energy targets, and prompting warnings of further threats to Middle Eastern oil supplies, including tankers in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports.
The news agency also reported that a liquefied natural gas tanker was damaged in Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, citing a maritime security source. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
