Oil prices are surging nearly 3%, with Europe’s benchmark crude returning above $90 a barrel after the United States and Iran exchanged military strikes in the Middle East for the first time in a month. A tanker reportedly struck a mine in the Strait of Hormuz, compounding security concerns along the critical waterway.
Brent crude, the European benchmark, rose 2.75% to $90.53 per barrel, having gained more than 3% at one point during overnight trading. West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US benchmark, advanced 2.48% to $85.47 per barrel, while natural gas traded in Amsterdam climbed 3.45% to €69.30 per megawatt-hour.
Shortly after sunset on Sunday, US forces struck Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz, breaking a ceasefire in the conflict as the intermittent war between the two countries entered its seventh month. According to a US official, Iranian military forces had been preparing to deploy rockets fitted with naval mines into the shipping lane, prompting Washington to carry out a pre-emptive strike.
In response, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had attacked US air bases in Jordan. It also reported that an unidentified supertanker attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz via a southern route was struck by two mines. No independent confirmation of that incident has been made available.
“The direct strike on Iranian launch sites does little to advance negotiations, nor does Iran retaliating against Jordan,” Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group, told Bloomberg. “But there seems to be little appetite at this stage to push oil prices to significantly higher levels,” he added.
Oil futures are on course to close out a highly volatile month during which Brent traded within a range of nearly $17 per barrel. Prices have been driven by diplomatic efforts to end the conflict as well as pledges by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to press Tehran into capitulating, stepping up efforts to cripple the Iranian economy.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/08/31/mercados/commodities/commodities-commodities/petroleo-avanca-quase-3-e-volta-a-negociar-acima-dos-90-dolares/
