Brent Tops $95 as US-Iran Fighting Deepens and Red Sea Blockade Threats Grow
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 22
Brent Tops $95 as US-Iran Fighting Deepens and Red Sea Blockade Threats Grow
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 22
Summary
Brent crude climbed more than 4% to about $95 a barrel on Wednesday, while U.S. benchmark WTI rose to nearly $88 as the Middle East conflict widened.
Marco Rubio said U.S. forces would keep attacking Iran as long as it sought control over shipping traffic, and Trump and Pete Hegseth a day earlier threatened a deeper campaign that could also target the Houthis.
Shipping through the Persian Gulf has already dwindled, and traders are now watching traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and whether the Houthis move to restrict the Bab al-Mandab chokepoint in the Red Sea.
Oil has gained about $10 a barrel in a week and 30% since the war began, with tighter markets amplified by lower stockpiles and damage to Russian refineries from Ukrainian attacks.
With war costs nearing $150 billion, why haven't oil prices surged past the once-feared $200-per-barrel mark?
As Iran threatens two vital sea lanes, is the global economy on the brink of an unprecedented supply chain crisis?
How are low-cost drones changing the security of the world's most critical energy and trade chokepoints?
2026 Middle East Oil Shock: Simultaneous Threats to Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb Upend Global Markets
Overview
The report highlights how escalating tensions in the Middle East have triggered an immediate crisis, causing renewed fighting and expanding the conflict’s geographic scope. This has led to sharp downturns in major Asian stock markets, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi both falling significantly. The crisis is also pushing oil prices upward, keeping global markets on edge. These developments show how regional instability quickly reverberates across global markets, affecting both financial indices and commodity prices, and underscore the interconnectedness of geopolitical events and economic outcomes.