Oil prices climbed more than $2 a barrel Thursday as Iran declared the critical energy chokepoint, the Strait of Hormuz, closed after the U.S. launched additional strikes against Iran.
Brent futures rose $2.30, or 2.47%, to $95.40 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed $2.60, or 2.89%, to $92.63. U.S. crude futures gained more than $3 earlier in the session.
Iran’s top joint military command announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, including oil tankers and commercial ships, saying any vessel that will attempt passage will be shot at.
However, the U.S. military said on X on Wednesday that commercial ships continue to transit in and out of the strait.
It also said no U.S. warships have been struck in the strait, after Iran’s state media reported U.S. ships near the waterway were targeted by missiles and drones.
U.S. forces began launching additional strikes against multiple targets in Iran at 5:15 p.m. EDT (21:15 GMT), the latest in an escalating exchange of attacks that threaten to reignite a full-scale war, which was paused in early April when the two sides agreed to a fragile ceasefire.
Iran’s months-long blockade of the strait, which normally carries a fifth of the global oil and gas shipments, have kept oil prices elevated.
Meanwhile, U.S. crude inventories fell by 7.2 million barrels to 426.5 million barrels in the week ended June 5, the EIA said on Wednesday, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 4 million-barrel draw.
U.S. crude inventories, including those from strategic reserves, have fallen by 79 million barrels since the Iran war began on February 28, as the world’s largest producer stepped into fill supply gaps left by the effective closure of the strait.
(Reporting by Georgina McCartney Editing by Shri Navaratnam)