Monday 09/March/2026 – 08:32 AM
rose Oil prices By more than 25% today, Monday, to record the highest level since mid-2022, as some major producers reduced supplies and the market was dominated by fears of long-term disruptions in shipping due to the expanding scope of the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Energy markets are in a state of extreme tension due to the escalation of the crisis around the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately one-fifth of global oil supplies usually pass.
Tanker traffic disruptions and increased security risks have already slowed shipping, making Asian buyers more vulnerable to the impact given their heavy reliance on crude oil from the Middle East.
Brent crude futures rose $24.96, or 27%, to $117.65 per barrel, on track to achieve the largest jump ever in a single day. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures increased $25.72, or 28.3%, to reach $116.62.
West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 31.4%, recording its highest level in the session at $119.48 a barrel earlier today, Monday, while Brent crude rose 29% to $119.50 a barrel.
Before today’s sharp rise, the price of Brent crude oil rose by 27% and WTI crude oil rose by 35.6% last week.
Unless the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz resumes soon and regional tensions ease, upward pressure on prices is likely to continue, said Vasu Menon, managing director of investment strategy at OCBC Bank in Singapore.
Iraq and Kuwait began to reduce oil production, in addition to previous reductions in liquefied natural gas from Qatar, due to the cessation of shipments from the Middle East as a result of the war. Analysts expect that the UAE and Saudi Arabia will be forced to reduce production soon as their oil reserves run out.
One of the reasons for the rise in prices is also the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as Supreme Leader of Iran, succeeding his father who was killed at the beginning of the war, which indicates that ultra-conservatives are still controlling the reins of power in Tehran a week after the war.
With the appointment of the late leader’s son as Iran’s new leader, US President Donald Trump’s goal of regime change in Iran has become more difficult, said Satoru Yoshida, a commodities analyst at Rakuten Securities.
He added that this opinion led to an acceleration of purchases, as Iran is expected to continue closing the Strait of Hormuz as well as attacks on the facilities of other oil-producing countries, as happened last week.
Yoshida expected the price of West Texas Intermediate crude to rise to $120 and then $130 per barrel in a relatively short period of time.
War could force consumers and businesses around the world to grapple with rising fuel prices for weeks or months, even if the week-long conflict ends quickly, with suppliers suffering from facility damage, logistics disruptions and higher shipping risks.
Three sources in the oil sector said yesterday that Iraq’s production from its main oil fields decreased by 70%, reaching only 1.3 million barrels per day, as the country cannot export oil through the Strait of Hormuz due to the Iran war. An official at the Basra State Oil Company said that crude oil stocks had reached their maximum capacity.
Kuwait Oil Company began reducing oil production on Saturday and declared a state of force majeure on shipments, but did not mention the amount of production it would stop.
As oil prices rose, Democratic Majority Leader in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, called on President Trump to withdraw quantities of strategic reserve oil.
Schumer said in a statement that President Trump must release oil from the Strategic Reserve now in order to stabilize markets, lower prices, and stop the price shock that American families are already suffering due to his reckless war.
