Brent crude rises above $100 after Iranian attacks on ships

Brent crude oil rose above $100 a barrel late Wednesday after Iran attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf.

Brent was at $101 a barrel as of 11:30 p.m. ET, up 10% on the day and back above the $100 on the international benchmark. Just days earlier, Brent had climbed to nearly $120 a barrel, its highest level since 2022.

Oil rose after Iran attacked three ships in the Strait of Hormuz earlier on Wednesday. Prices spiked further later in the day after two more ships were attacked in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Iraq.

A spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, said that any vessel linked to the United States, Israel or their allies “will be considered a legitimate target.”

“You will not be able to artificially lower the price of oil. Expect oil at $200 per barrel,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most important oil chokepoints, with a large share of global crude exports passing through the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman.