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The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, topped $100 a barrel early Thursday (March 12, 2026), just days after it spiked near $120.
Oil prices shot more than 9% higher as supply concerns worsened with Iranian attacks on commercial shipping around the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. benchmark crude oil jumped to about $95 a barrel.
The latest attacks marked an escalation in Iran’s campaign aimed at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to end the war that started 12 days ago. But there were no signs that the conflict was subsiding.
Earlier, two foreign tankers carrying Iraqi fuel oil were hit by unidentified attackers in Iraq’s territorial waters, causing them to catch fire, the director general of the General Company for Ports, Farhan al-Fartousi, told Reuters on Wednesday (March 11, 2026).
An initial investigation from Iraqi security officials showed explosive-laden boats from Iran had hit the two tankers.
“This appears to mark a direct and forceful Iranian response to the IEA’s overnight announcement of a massive strategic reserve release aimed at cooling runaway prices,” said Tony Sycamore, an IG analyst.
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The International Energy Agency agreed to release a record 400 million barrels of oil to help rein in prices that have spiked due to supply shocks from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. The U.S. is contributing the bulk of that release — 172 million barrels — from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
“The IEA’s release of oil reserves may be only a temporary solution, as disruptions to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and a major production halt in some Middle Eastern countries could cause a long-term supply crunch,” said Tina Teng, market strategist at Moomoo ANZ.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (March 11, 2026) that Washington was in “very good shape” in its war on Iran and that the U.S. was “going to look very strongly at the straits.”
U.S. intelligence indicates, however, that Iran’s leadership is still largely intact and is not at risk of collapse any time soon, according to sources familiar with the matter.
“Oil prices continued to face upside pressure as there were no signs of war de-escalation in the Middle East,” said Teng.
Published – March 12, 2026 08:03 am IST
