(LONDON) — The global price of oil topped $100 a barrel on Wednesday for the first time since July, as continued tensions between Iran and the United States added to uncertainty over future supply.
The rise followed a statement on Tuesday by U.S. Central Command, which said that its forces destroyed five Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps oil tankers.
The IRGC followed those strikes by issuing a warning that all oil tankers in Kuwaiti and Bahrani waters should be evacuated.
Brent crude oil prices, a benchmark for global trading, climbed about 2.7%, trading at about $100.57 a barrel for contracts with November deliveries.
U.S. oil traded at about $95 a barrel, up by about 2%.
A large-scale U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran in late February prompted Iran’s near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which facilitates one-fifth of global crude supply.
The ensuing war set off the largest oil supply disruption on record and prompted the release of hundreds of millions of barrels of reserve crude from emergency storage in dozens of countries. A six-month stretch of on-again, off-again fighting has continued to choke off oil supply and keep prices elevated.
Oil prices account for a large share of the price of gasoline. The average price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. currently registers at $4.22, according to AAA, marking a 41% jump since the war broke out.
Diesel prices in the U.S. hit a new record high on Wednesday, jumping to an average of $5.94 a gallon, AAA data showed. High diesel prices push up transport costs for many everyday products, including groceries, clothes and furniture.
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