Oil surges 9pc on choked supplies

NEW YORK: Oil prices settled up about nine per cent on Thursday, at their highest in nearly four years, as Iran stepped up attacks on oil and transport facilities across the Middle East, and the country’s supreme leader vowed to keep the vital Strait of Hormuz shut.

Brent futures settled at $100.46 a barrel, up $8.48, or 9.2pc, after touching a session high of $101.60. US West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $95.70, up $8.48 or 9.7pc. Both contracts settled at their highest since August 2022.

US natural gas futures also edged up to a fresh four-week high on Thursday, due to the Iran war and as cooler weather boosted heating demand more than expected.

“The market is seriously unbalanced and that will continue until the Strait is reopened and upstream and downstream operations return to normal. It will not happen quickly,” said Jim Burkhard, vice president and global head of Crude Oil Research at S&P Global Energy.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC on Thursday that the US Navy could not escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz now but it was “quite likely” that could happen by the end of the month. Global oil prices are unlikely to hit $200 a barrel, Wright said, even as Iran continues to strike merchant ships.

Two fuel tankers in Iraqi waters were struck by explosive-laden Iran­ian boats, Iraqi security officials said on Thursday, while an Iraqi official told state media that its oil ports have completely stopped operations.

Oman shifted all vessels out of its main oil export terminal at Mina Al Fahal outside the Strait of Hormuz in a precautionary move, a Bloomberg News report said. Brent hit $119.50 a barrel on Monday, its highest since mid-2022, then dropped after US President Donald Trump said the Iran war could be over soon.

To combat rising prices, the Trump administration is considering waiving the century-old Jones Act for a limited period to ensure energy and agricultural shipments can move freely between US ports, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday.

“Trump is using every policy measure he can to keep prices low. … The lifting of the Jones Act is putting some downward pressure on the market today,” Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group, said.

The war is causing the biggest oil-supply disruption in the history of global markets, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday, a day after approving the release of a record volume of 400 million barrels of oil from strategic stockpiles.­

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2026

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