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WTI near $84.5 as IRGC claims supertanker hit mines in Hormuz
Crude prices jumped after Iran launched ballistic and anti-ship cruise missiles aimed at positions in the Strait of Hormuz, following a US strike on Iranian launcher facilities at Larak Island.
WTI rebounded and kept rising in Monday trading, moving around $84.4 per barrel during the Asian session as fears over activity in the Strait of Hormuz resurfaced, according to FXStreet.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed a rogue supertanker caught fire after hitting two naval mines in the southern passage of the waterway, and said the vessel was attempting to transit illegally. Iran also warned that all maritime traffic must follow Iranian passage rules.
FXStreet said the situation escalated further when Iran launched a coordinated barrage of ballistic and anti-ship cruise missiles from multiple locations, including Tehran, Lorestan, Karaj, Khorramabad, and Shiraz, targeting positions in the strait. The IRGC framed the missile strikes as retaliation for an earlier US strike on Iranian launcher facilities at Larak Island, which it said was intended to support the laying of naval mines.
While US forces monitored the Strait to protect global trade routes, FXStreet noted the US action marked a shift from Washington’s more sanctions-led approach in recent weeks. Brown Brothers Harriman cautioned that upside for crude may be limited, citing Goldman Sachs estimates that Persian Gulf oil exports have recovered to about two-thirds of pre-war levels as more vessels transit the strait.
Latest closeWTI crude $83.44 ▼0.1%