Brent crude closed in London at $97.05 a barrel on Monday, a gain of 0.8%, or $0.78. It is the closest the benchmark has come to $100 since late July. West Texas Intermediate rose 1.27%, or $1.16, to $92.64 at 14:28 EDT.
What pushed prices up was a weekend clash in the Gulf. U.S. Central Command said on Saturday that it had struck and destroyed three Iranian oil tankers, “in response to attempted missile attacks on naval vessels.” CENTCOM said a U.S. aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer evaded multiple attacks it called unprovoked. No American personnel were harmed.
The command named the vessels. It said it permanently disabled the crude carriers M/T Downy, off Kharg Island, and M/T Stark 1, near Jask. The unladen carrier M/T Kylo, also known as the “Noxen,” was hit in several critical places in the Gulf of Oman and rendered inoperable, CENTCOM said, after its crew was told to abandon ship.
Threats on both sides
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth followed with a warning on social media. “It’s simple: if Iran shoots at US ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers,” he wrote.
Iran’s top negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, acknowledged the U.S. strikes on Sunday and promised “a faster, heavier, and more painful response.” In a statement carried on Iranian state media and translated by the BBC and the Associated Press, he said Washington must understand “before it is too late” that the “rules of the game have changed.”
A war past six months
The fighting began when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. A short ceasefire gave way to renewed clashes late last July, after U.S. raids on Iran. Both sides remain deadlocked, and each has repeatedly turned down the other’s proposals to end the war.
Two choke points define the standoff. Iran is trying to keep its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping artery. The U.S. is maintaining a counter-blockade of Iranian ports while trying to keep traffic in the region moving safely.
Traders have priced in the strain. A sense of near-permanent crisis has settled over the oil market. Goldman Sachs told clients in a note that risk premiums tied to Middle East tension could lift oil as high as $120 per barrel.
