Oil prices climbed toward $100 a barrel on Wednesday as fighting between the United States and Iran widened, with Iranian forces striking a US base in Jordan and American warplanes destroying five Iranian oil tankers. Brent crude rose sharply, approaching the $100 mark, while global markets weighed the risk of prolonged disruption to Middle East energy supplies.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had attacked the US base in Jordan in response to the American strikes on the tankers. The IRGC also urged crews of vessels docked in Kuwait and Bahrain to leave, warning that it would target ships following the US action.
The US military said it struck the five tankers after the IRGC targeted an American warship twice over two days. The exchange has drawn the two sides into a rapidly widening confrontation across the Gulf, with commercial shipping now a declared target.
The strikes on the tankers followed earlier retaliatory attacks on Iranian oil vessels after repeated missile fire on US Navy ships in the region. Iranian forces have also struck US bases in Jordan in previous rounds of the conflict.
Traders are focused on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly a fifth of global oil supply passes. Any move to disrupt traffic there would tighten supply and push prices higher. The IRGC warning to shipping crews raised the prospect of further interruptions.
Brent crude has gained ground through the week as each round of strikes fed supply concerns. The approach toward $100 a barrel reflects a market pricing in the risk of a broader closure of Gulf shipping lanes rather than confirmed physical shortages.
The confrontation has drawn commercial oil tankers directly into the fighting for the first time in the current escalation. The destruction of five vessels and the IRGC’s threat against ships in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports mark a shift from strikes on military targets alone.
As of Wednesday, the US had confirmed the destruction of the five tankers and Iran had confirmed the attack on the Jordan base. Neither side has reported the outcome of the base strike in detail, and shipping traffic through the Gulf remained under threat.