Brent Crude Tops 90 Dollars as Iran Strikes Tankers and Hormuz Traffic Slows

Oil prices climbed for a second straight session on Monday as the conflict between the United States and Iran reached the shipping lanes of the Persian Gulf. Brent crude for September delivery rose more than 2 percent to trade above 90 dollars a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate advanced about 2.1 percent to near 83.5 dollars, according to Globes and confirmed by CNBC.

The immediate cause was an attack on shipping. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said two oil tankers exploded and were immobilized after they tried to transit what it called an unsafe southern corridor through the Strait of Hormuz, a claim carried by The Hindu. The Financial Times reported that the United States carried out a fresh wave of attacks as American casualties rose, while Euronews said the fighting had largely halted movement through the strait.

Roughly a fifth of the world's seaborne oil normally passes through Hormuz. Any sustained interruption forces buyers in Asia and Europe to compete for barrels shipped from elsewhere, and it raises revenue for producers outside the Gulf each time the risk premium widens.

The increase reverses an earlier decline that had taken crude back toward pre-war levels, and it reintroduces an energy-driven inflation impulse at a moment when central banks had been counting on cooling price pressure.