Oil prices jump 3% to over $90 after US, Iran fire strikes for first time in a month
Oil prices on Monday jumped 3% – back above $90 a barrel – after the US and Iran exchanged strikes for the first time in a month. By approximately 9:20 a.m.ET, Brent crude oil futures jumped 2.20% to $90.29 a barrel while West Texas Intermediate rose 2.25% to $85.65.
National average gasoline prices remained stubbornly above $4 a gallon, according to AAA.The US launched strikes on Iran’s Larak Island Sunday after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were allegedly setting up another wave of underwater mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial maritime route for oil supplies, according to Axios.“I can confirm that earlier today US forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island.Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz,” Navy Capt.
Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for US Central Command, said in a statement Sunday.Iran retaliated with an attack aimed at US forces stationed in Jordan, but nearly all incoming missiles were intercepted with little to no impact on the ground, according to Fox News’ chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst.In a Truth Social post Sunday evening, President Trump threatened to ramp up hostilities, posting an AI-generated video of Kharg Island, Iran’s energy hub, “being blown to smithereens!!!”The attack came just days after positive news for oil markets, as Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note last week that oil exports from the Persian Gulf had rebounded to two-thirds of pre-war levels.Experts told The Post that the recovering supply could be enough to keep prices below the $90 level for the rest of the year – but only if there were no surprises.Total exports of crude and oil products from the Gulf have jumped to 15 million to 16 million barrels a day as tanker traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz has started to pick back up, analysts including Daan Struyven and Yulia Zhestkova Grigsby wrote in the note.That’s about 7 million...