Oil Prices Surge After Iran Attacks Tankers Near Strait of Hormuz

Global oil prices have recorded the sharpest price rise in nearly two months after a series of attacks on fossil fuel tankers near the Strait of Hormuz led Donald Trump to declare that the ceasefire deal with Iran was “over”. Brent, the global crude benchmark rose by 5% on Wednesday to more than $78 (£58) a barrel, the highest price since the US and Iran agreed the ceasefire while negotiating an end to the war last month. The fragile ceasefire appeared to disintegrate after Iran launched attacks on at least three tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, including a vessel carrying about 8m cubic feet of liquefied natural gas, which is considered the cargo most at risk of exploding. At least four oil and gas tankers have turned back from trying to transit the Strait, according to ship-tracking data, which has hampered efforts to normalise flows of oil and gas through the vital trade route after months of disruption. The return of rising energy prices risks raising household costs which have faced the steepest rise in summer energy bills in four years. If sustained, the higher market costs could mean rising gas and electricity prices in the winter as well as higher prices at the pump. Market analysts have stopped short of forecasting a return to oil prices of more than $100 a barrel after finding the global market was more resilient to disruption than initially feared.