Oil surges past $110 as Hormuz mine blast and tanker strikes multiply
Brent climbed above $110 a barrel and WTI topped $99 after a mine explosion near the Strait of Hormuz and a fresh round of tanker and refinery strikes stoked fears of a broader Middle East supply shock.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards naval unit reported that a large tanker caught fire after striking a mine in the southern reaches of the Strait of Hormuz, claiming the vessel had been operating in breach of Iranian maritime rules, state-run outlets in Iran said. Tracking firm Kpler logged no fewer than 18 separate assaults on ships in the region within a two-week span.
Market researchers at LSEG noted that the hostile incidents are no longer confined to the strait itself, pointing out that Iran’s forces have struck vessels well into the Gulf of Oman, endangering both loading operations within the Gulf and the ship-to-ship cargo transfers that have kept crude flowing despite the ongoing turmoil. Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthis claimed responsibility for hitting a Saudi Aramco installation at Yanbu, the Shaybah oil field, and airport facilities in Riyadh and Abha. Casualties from a connected Houthi assault on Yemen’s government troops climbed to 73 as clashes intensified.
These increases erase a pullback seen the previous session, when crude slipped after Iran’s president floated the possibility of acting as a go-between during talks with Pakistan’s military chief while in Tehran. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, speaking during a Tehran meeting with his Pakistani counterpart, stated that neither Saudi Arabia nor the Houthi movement had yet replied to Iran’s proposal to help arrange peace negotiations.
JPMorgan cautioned that the war’s future course is still difficult to gauge, pointing out that multiple economic limits it had initially believed Washington would respect have already been surpassed, with no resolution in view. Daan Struyven, who co-leads global commodities research at Goldman Sachs, remarked that the latest string of incidents demonstrates how maritime disruption can widen and deepen quickly. Goldman has mapped out a scenario in which crude could climb to $120 a barrel if attacks on shipping worsen further, against a possible retreat toward $80 a barrel should export flows return to normal.
The Brent crude $110 milestone matters for markets because escalating Middle East supply risk feeds directly into oil benchmarks and can spill over into inflation expectations, energy-sensitive currencies, and overall risk appetite across stocks and bonds.
Sources: Investing.com (commodities); Investing.com (commodities); Economic Times Markets