Oil Prices Soar Past $100 a Barrel Amid Middle East Tensions

The price of oil surged past $100 a barrel on Wednesday, its highest level in more than six weeks.

This increase follows U.S. military strikes that destroyed five Iranian tankers and Houthi attacks that set oil facilities ablaze in Saudi Arabia.

U.S. Central Command said the strikes targeted vessels used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to fund its regional proxies, which Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as 'in many ways, agents and proxies of the Iranians.'

The most actively traded Brent crude contract rose 2.4% to $100.29 early Wednesday, while U.S. benchmark crude gained 1.9% to $94.77 a barrel.