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Brent Crude Tops $100 After US-Iran Tanker Strike

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Brent crude reached $100.70 a barrel Wednesday, its highest since July, after US and Iranian tanker strikes and Houthi attacks on Saudi oil sites.

The price of Brent crude climbed to $100 a barrel on Wednesday, its highest mark since late July, after a fresh round of attacks on shipping and energy sites across the Gulf region and Yemen. By Wednesday afternoon a barrel of the global benchmark traded at $100.70, a gain of 2.83% on Tuesday's level.

The jump followed overnight strikes in which the United States said it hit five Iranian tankers, while Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed to have struck eight tankers and two warships, along with an American base in Jordan. Iran-backed Houthi forces, meanwhile, reported dozens of Saudi strikes inside Yemen, a day after drones and missiles set several Saudi oil facilities ablaze.

US Central Command, or Centcom, said early Wednesday that its operation destroyed four Iranian oil tankers tied to the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps in the Gulf of Oman - named as the Kaviz, Charminar, Horizon 1 and Riesco. A fifth vessel, the Derya, was struck near Kharg Island in the northern Gulf, the site of Iran's principal oil export terminal. Centcom said American forces ordered each crew to leave their ship before the strikes were carried out.

According to Centcom, the tanker strikes were a response to the IRGC firing ballistic missiles at a US warship on two separate occasions over two days. The command said the warship dodged the incoming fire and that no American personnel were hurt.

Missiles over Jordan

Iran's account of the night differed. The IRGC said its Aerospace Force targeted maintenance buildings, hangars and aircraft at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan in retaliation for the American action. Jordan's armed forces said they shot down 20 Iranian missiles, with two more coming down in unpopulated areas. No casualties were recorded.

The Guards went further, stating that their navy had also hit two US Navy destroyers and eight oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and inflicted "heavy damage." Centcom rejected part of that account, describing the claim that two of its warships had been struck as false.

The Revolutionary Guards also announced plans for a new "prohibited zone" for vessels, one that would reach past the Strait of Hormuz and into the Arabian Sea.

A waterway shut down

The surge in prices reflects months of mounting pressure on the region's energy routes. Before fighting between Iran and a US-Israeli coalition began in February, Brent had sat at roughly $70 a barrel. Since then, Iranian missile and drone strikes on commercial ships, combined with an American naval blockade of Iranian ports, have effectively sealed off the Strait of Hormuz. Around 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas cargoes normally move through that passage.

The latest peak matched levels last seen in late July, when Iran and the United States restarted hostilities following a month-long pause in fighting.

Yemen has added a second front to the crisis. The Houthis have been striking Saudi energy sites and tankers in the Red Sea since July, when a four-year ceasefire in the country started to fall apart. Their reported attacks this week caused fires at multiple Saudi oil installations before Saudi forces launched dozens of strikes in return.

Merchant shipping is feeling the effects directly. The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said it had logged reports of several commercial vessels in the northern Gulf and the Gulf of Oman coming under "disabling fire" amid the continuing military activity. It also flagged a vessel positioned 24 nautical miles, or 45km, north-west of a port in the area.

Centcom released footage it said showed the Iranian tanker Riesco burning and going under, one of the vessels named in its strike report.

The higher crude prices are already reaching drivers. The climb has pushed up petrol costs for motorists in many countries, extending the reach of a conflict centred on the Gulf far beyond the region itself.

Brent crude oil price, Strait of Hormuz, US Iran tanker strikes, Houthi Saudi oil attacks, IRGC Centcom, Gulf of Oman, oil price $100, Muwaffaq Salti Air Base

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