Crude oil climbed more than 3% to above $86 a barrel on Monday as tensions in the Middle East intensified, with the US and Iran trading strikes for the first time in about a month and fresh worries emerging over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. US forces hit Iranian rocket launchers that were reportedly preparing to lay mines in the key chokepoint, while Iran claimed responsibility for attacks on US bases in Jordan. Tehran also said a supertanker using Hormuz’s southern route struck two mines, though that report has not been independently verified.
Oil prices are up about 2% so far in August, after surging 22% in July, as markets continue to respond to shifting expectations over a possible resolution of the conflict. Washington’s economic pressure campaign and naval blockade have disrupted Iranian exports, but traders estimate that some 6–8 million barrels of crude per day—primarily from other Gulf producers—still move through the strait.
