Summary US crude oil futures were up 4.1% at $74:33 per barrel as of 9:15 p.m. ET. Brent futures, the international benchmark, traded 3.88% higher at $78.96.
(Web Desk) - Oil prices rose Sunday evening after the US and Iran traded strikes as they contest control of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important trade routes for global energy supplies.
US crude oil futures were up 4.1% at $74:33 per barrel as of 9:15 p.m. ET. Brent futures, the international benchmark, traded 3.88% higher at $78.96.
The US military launched another wave of strikes Sunday against Iran after hitting 140 targets on Saturday, according to U.S. Central Command. The strikes are in response to an attack by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on a container ship transiting Hormuz.
Iran responded Sunday with strikes on U.S. military facilities in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, according to the state news agency Tasnim.
Iranian state media said the Revolutionary Guard had closed the Hormuz until further notice, but the U.S. military disputed that claim. Centcom said the strait was open to “all vessels seeking to lawfully transit.”
“U.S. forces are positioned and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available despite unwarranted Iranian aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations,” Centcom said in a social media post Sunday. “Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing.”
