Brent crude, the major trading classification and global price benchmark for light, sweet crude oil, reached more than $100 a barrel Wednesday following U.S. strikes on Iranian oil tankers and Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Trading Economics, which tracks the price of crude oil, recorded the price per barrel at approximately $100.76. The last time Brent traded above $100 was in July, when the Islamabad memorandum of understanding broke down, and the U.S. and Iran traded strikes in the Strait of Hormuz.
Before that, the price per barrel of Brent crude reached as high as $114 in May during the height of the kinetic phase of the war, which began with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
Brent’s price per barrel has steadily increased over the past week, as the U.S. and Iran trade strikes and the Houthis ramp up attacks on Saudi Arabia. The price stood at about $93 a barrel on Sept. 2.
On Tuesday, the U.S. military struck five oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz in response to Iranian attacks on warships. The U.S. strikes are part of a joint military and economic pressure campaign intended to crush the Iranian state or force a negotiated settlement of the war.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, said its forces destroyed three Iranian oil tankers earlier this week in response to an attempted attack on an aircraft carrier.
Iran has responded to the tanker attacks with strikes on U.S. military assets. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Tuesday launched missiles at targets in Jordan, which hosts U.S. forces.
The Jordanian military said it intercepted 18 missiles and made no reports of casualties or severe damage.
Separately, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen launched a massive attack on energy facilities and civilian infrastructure Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, injuring about 73 people, according to Saudi officials.
The attacks, which included missiles and drones, hit four southern cities in Saudi Arabia and sparked fires at oil facilities, leading to a temporary halt in operations.
Houthi leaders said the attacks were in response to more than 120 airstrikes Saudi Arabia carried out in Yemen over the last few weeks.
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