Oil prices jump 2% after US strikes Iranian island in Strait of Hormuz
Oil prices spike after US attacks Iran. Is the Hormuz crisis back? Photograph: (Credits: AFP)
Oil prices rose by around 2 per cent on Monday after the United States attacked an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting retaliation from Tehran.
Brent crude futures gained 2 per cent to reach $89.87 a barrel by 8:40am Libya time, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.74 per cent to $84.85 a barrel, according to Reuters.
The strikes targeted Larak Island, a strategic point within the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil shipments pass. The exchange marks the latest flare-up in a US-Iran conflict now in its sixth month, with disruption to shipping through the strait remaining a key driver of the risk premium built into crude prices.
