Oil prices settled more than 2% higher on Monday as fresh US-Iran military exchanges renewed market fears about disruptions to global supply.
Brent futures rose $2.39, or 2.71%, to $90.49 a barrel at settlement, touching an intraday high of $91.52, the strongest level since 25 August. West Texas Intermediate added $2.36, or 2.83%, to close at $85.76 a barrel.
The moves followed Iranian missile strikes on two US air bases in Jordan, carried out in response to an earlier American strike on Iran’s Larak Island. Fox News, citing President Donald Trump, reported that he was threatening to deliver a “powerful blow” in response. The network’s correspondent quoted Trump directly: “We will hit them hard… there will be a response.”
Trump had also posted on social media on Sunday claiming that Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal, had been “levelled”, though no evidence of an attack on the island emerged. The post was accompanied by an AI-generated video and included no further detail.
Separately, US Strategic Petroleum Reserve inventories fell by approximately 3.1 million barrels last week to 286.6 million barrels.
Kharg Island handles the large majority of Iran’s crude exports, and any genuine threat to it would carry significant consequences for global oil markets. For now, traders appear to be pricing escalation risk rather than confirmed supply loss.
