Oil prices surged roughly 6 percent on Monday as Iran intensified attacks on the United Arab Emirates and vessels in the Middle East Gulf over the past 24 hours, marking the most serious escalation since a U.S.-Iran ceasefire took effect in early April.
Brent futures rose $6.79, or 6.3 percent, to $114.96 per barrel at 12:54 p.m. EDT (1654 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $4.23, or 4.2 percent, to $106.17, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
A South Korean ship was hit by an explosion in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and Iranian drones caused a fire at a UAE oil port, as Tehran demonstrated its grip on Middle East oil after U.S. President Donald Trump said his Navy would open the strait.
The U.S. military said it destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted Iranian cruise missiles and drones fired by Tehran as the U.S. launched an operation to free up shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of Central Command, said on Monday.
Iranian military officials, meanwhile, denied that Iranian small boats were sunk.
About 20 percent of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies passed through the strait before the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy issued a map that it said was expanding the areas controlled by Iran near the Strait of Hormuz to include the UAE's ports of Fujairah and Khorfakkan as well as the coast of Umm Al Quwain emirate in the UAE, according to Iranian news agencies.
"The path for prices remains skewed to the upside as long as flows through the strait remain restricted," UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
Earlier in the day, the U.S. military said two U.S. merchant ships had made it through the strait, without saying when. Iran denied any crossings had taken place.
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