Oil jumps 4.5% as US-Iran strikes threaten Hormuz and Red Sea flows
Why it matters: Brent closed at $88.10 and WTI at $82.49, with both benchmarks up about 16% for the week.
Oil prices climbed more than 4% on Friday to their highest levels in more than a month as US-Iran fighting intensified across the Gulf and raised fresh risks to crude shipping. Brent crude settled up $3.87, or 4.59%, at $88.10 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate rose $3.54, or 4.48%, to $82.49. The rally came after US strikes hit bridges and an airport in Iran and Tehran targeted a power and desalination plant in Kuwait. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has already been restricted, and Iran has pressed the Houthis to shut the Red Sea route if US attacks hit Iran’s power infrastructure. Saudi Arabia has redirected more than 70% of normal crude exports to Yanbu to avoid Hormuz.