Iran's Naval Mine Claim Sends WTI Oil Prices Soaring to $84.50
WTI oil prices surged to near $84.50 per barrel on Monday as Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed that a supertanker struck by naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
The incident occurred after Iran launched missile barrages toward the Strait, targeting positions in response to an earlier US strike on Iranian launcher facilities at Larak Island. The US military action marked the first direct strike on Iranian military positions in over a month and was seen as a shift from Washington's recent strategy of relying on economic sanctions.
The IRGC warned that all maritime traffic must comply with Iranian rules for passage through the area, but Brown Brothers Harriman cautioned that upside pressure on crude oil prices appears limited due to recovering exports from the Persian Gulf.