Brent crude crosses $100 per barrel amid escalating US-Iran clashes
Oil prices surged past the $100 mark as fighting intensified, with US forces disabling three Iranian tankers and Tehran warning of exclusion zones near the Strait of Hormuz.
The front-month contract for Brent crude crossed $100 per barrel on Wednesday morning, marking the first time since July that the international benchmark has hit this threshold. WTI hovered around $95. Prices have risen nearly 20% since mid-last week as fighting around the world's most important oil chokepoint has intensified. US Central Command confirmed its forces destroyed five Iranian tankers carrying crude oil on September 8 after ballistic missiles fired by Iran's Revolutionary Guard at a US Navy warship twice within two days did not hit the ship. This followed a similar strike on September 5 when Iranian forces targeted a US aircraft carrier and a destroyer, both of which evaded the attack. Tehran responded by firing missiles at a US military base in Jordan, where air defenses intercepted most of them, and renewed threats to target tankers in Kuwaiti and Bahraini waters.
