(RTTNews) – Extending yesterday’s surge, crude oil prices have catapulted on Tuesday as expectations of the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz anytime soon moved out of investors’ orbit after the U.S. commenced another fresh wave of attacks on Iran following the recent exchange of strikes over the weekend.
WTI Crude Oil for October month delivery was last seen trading up by $4.27 (or 4.98%) at $90.03 per barrel.
The exchange of fire between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend after more than a month of relative calm, rekindled escalation concerns in the Middle East.
On Sunday, claiming to thwart Iran’s plans to re-lay sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. forces conducted strikes on Iran’s Larak Island.
As a retaliatory measure, Iran launched strikes on the U.S. airbases at King Hussein and Al Azraq in Jordan.
In an interview with Fox News, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the U.S. will hit Iran hard. Separately, Trump also remarked that these renewed strikes do not mean a return to full-scale war.
Today, compounding the gulf war tensions, Trump announced through Truth Social that the U.S. has just commenced large and powerful strikes on Iran in retaliation for the nation targeting the U.S. bases in Jordan.
Axios reported that the strikes hit targets along the southern coast of Iran in the cities of Bandar Abbas, Jask, Chabahar, Konarak, Minab, Sirik, and the island of Qeshm.
In a post on X, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps spokesperson Hossein Mohebi warned that the U.S. will regret these attacks.
After the U.S. Treasury announced large-scale economic sanctions on Iran last Monday, tensions eased as investors were led to believe that the U.S. had shifted to pressuring Iran by cutting off its financial lifelines rather than resorting to military maneuvers. However, the fresh escalation added to the uncertainty surrounding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Last week, Trump announced that the U.S. had removed all mines in the international waters in the Strait of Hormuz.
In a video update, U.S. Central Command’s Commander Admiral Brad Cooper stated that conducting a high-stakes operation, U.S. forces have successfully cleared all the sea mines in the strait’s international shipping lanes.
Late Monday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported that three unknown projectiles struck a tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Yesterday evening, speaking from the Oval Office, Trump claimed that the Strait of Hormuz situation is very good and added that with the U.S. in control of the region, a large number of ships passed through with U.S. Navy’s assistance, averaging about 30 ships every night.
Depicting a contrasting picture and revealing a sharp decline on August 31, Kpler recorded only five confirmed crossings, down by 50%, from 10 vessels on the day prior.
Data from maritime security firm Windward showed that a total of 13 vessels transited yesterday, which included six inbound and seven outbound transits.
Since mid-August, when the 60-day ceasefire agreed by the U.S. and Iran on June 17 expired without any extension, oil prices have remained volatile.
With the threat of further attacks remaining a major concern, fleet owners refrained from allowing their vessels to sail.
CBC News reported citing tracking firms Marisks and Kpler that two supertankers carrying Saudi Arabian oil (Sidr and Senegal Prosperity) were struck by unknown projectiles while transiting outbound through the Strait of Hormuz.
Qatar, which is acting as a mediator between the U.S. and Iran, urged both nations to return to negotiations following the tit-for-tat attacks.
Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that Iran is ready to return to the terms of the ceasefire deal signed in June, if the U.S. does the same.
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