Monday 16/March/2026 – 09:35 AM
rose Oil prices today Monday, as investors returned focus to the threats facing energy facilities in the Middle East, despite US President Donald Trump calling on other countries to help protect the Strait of Hormuz, which is a vital artery for global oil and gas shipments.
Brent crude futures rose 1.17%, to $104.35 per barrel, while US crude futures rose 0.1% to $98.89 per barrel.
US West Texas Intermediate crude also increased 0.1%, to $98.89 per barrel, after rising by about three dollars in the previous session.
Both crude oils rose by more than 40% this month.
The two crude oils rose by more than 40% this month to their highest levels since 2022, after Tehran stopped shipping through the Strait of Hormuz due to the American and Israeli attacks on Iran, which led to the disruption of about a fifth of global oil supplies in the largest outage of its kind.
90% of Iranian oil exports pass through Kharg Island
Trump threatened to launch more attacks on Iran’s Kharg Island, an oil export hub, after the United States targeted military sites over the weekend. Tehran responded to Trump’s statements with defiance and vowed more revenge. About 90% of Iranian oil exports pass through Kharg Island.
In a related context, an Iranian drone struck a major oil station in Fujairah, UAE, shortly after the attacks on Kharg. Four sources said that oil loading operations in Fujairah later resumed, but it is not yet clear whether operations have returned to normal.
Fujairah, located outside the Strait of Hormuz, is an outlet for about 1 million barrels per day of the UAE’s main Murban crude, an amount equivalent to about 1% of global demand.
SEB analyst Eric Meyerson said in a note that the United States is considering high-risk options on the ground, including launching raids on nuclear sites to obtain Iranian enriched uranium, seizing Kharg Island, the oil export center, and even occupying southern Iran to protect the Strait of Hormuz.
He added that all of these options involve significant escalation and require bearing much higher risks, according to Reuters.
