HOUSTON: US oil prices settled more than 11% higher and Brent soared nearly 8 percent on Thursday in volatile trading, as traders worried about prolonged disruptions to oil supply the day after President Donald Trump said the United States would continue attacks on Iran.
Brent crude futures closed USD7.87, or 7.78 percent, higher at USD109.03 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose USD11.42, or 11.41 percent, at USD111.54 per barrel, settling at their biggest absolute price rise since 2020.
Both benchmarks remained below highs near USD120 a barrel touched earlier in the conflict. Trump said military operations would be intensified, but did not specify a timeline for ending hostilities. He gave no details on any steps that could lead to a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz “We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” Trump said. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.”
READ MORE: Oil prices jump to around $110/bbl after Trump says attacks on Iran will continue
Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to monitor traffic in the strait, an Iranian foreign ministry official said, after a Bloomberg report. Iran has effectively shut down the narrow waterway through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas is shipped, in retaliation for US-Israeli ?strikes that began on February 28. Reopening it has become a priority for governments around the world as energy prices soar.
“The real question on traders’ minds is that if Iran’s oil infrastructure is possibly now at risk, and with more damage in the area now very likely, even if left intact the restart of oil flows in the region (is) now looking to be delayed further,” said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial.
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