Crude Oil Prices Surge Amid Middle East Conflict and Strait of Hormuz Tensions
North Sea Brent crude also climbed 1.16 percent to $110.30 per barrel at the start of the trading week.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Crude oil prices opened higher on Monday, with US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rising 1.86 percent to $113.62 per barrel as ongoing conflict in the Middle East tightens global energy supplies.
North Sea Brent crude also climbed 1.16 percent to $110.30 per barrel at the start of the trading week.
The escalation comes as U.S. President Donald Trump set a Tuesday deadline for Iran to end the war and reopen shipping in the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz. In a social media post on Sunday, Trump threatened, in strong language, to target Iran’s power plants and bridges if the country did not comply. "Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!" he wrote on his Truth Social platform. Speaking to Fox News later, Trump expressed optimism that Iran might agree to a deal on Monday.
The conflict, now entering its sixth week since the U.S. and Israel first struck Iran on February 28, has engulfed the Middle East and disrupted the global economy. Iran’s near blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit route for roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas, has contributed to the surge in petroleum prices.