Crude oil futures extended their gains in overnight trading as investors monitor the war in Iran, now in its sixth month, which could be re-escalating after both sides conducted strikes. Oil prices had been sliding, but are now firmly above $90 again.
October West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures rose $1.70, or 1.9%, to $91.93 per barrel on Tuesday night on the New York Mercantile Exchange. US crude is up 13% over the past week and has surged 60% year-to-date.
Brent, the international benchmark for oil prices, could be flirting with $100 heading into the fall. November Brent crude futures jumped $2.06, or 2.18%, to $96.71 a barrel in overseas trading. Brent is also up 12% over the last week and has rallied 59% this year.
The US Central Command confirmed on Tuesday that the US military carried out new strikes against Tehran in response to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeting commercial shipping vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and US service members deployed to the Middle East.
President Donald Trump told Fox News on Monday that it would “hit them hard” after Iran’s recent attacks on US military bases in the region. But Tehran says those attacks were in retaliation for American forces targeting Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island.
While neither side has an appetite for resuming full-scale war, Washington and Tehran have vowed to keep the conflict going.
But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking with Fox Business host Larry Kudlow at the G20 ministerial meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, says the latest measures from Operation Economic Outcast will “asphyxiate” the regime.
The current administration outlined a significant sanctions package against Iran as part of its “economic D-Day” to annihilate the country.
“We are tracking down the IRGC’s assets,” Bessent told Kudlow.
“I will say it on worldwide TV. Just so you know, we know where the British Virgin Islands air accounts are at these trust companies. We know the 100-million-dollar houses you have around the world. We are going to freeze those.”
In other energy commodities, October natural gas futures rose $0.052, or 1.79%, to $2.956 per million British thermal units (Btu). October gasoline futures edged up $0.0458, or 1.46%, to $3.1809 a gallon. October heating oil futures jumped $0.053, or 1.13%, to $4.7303 per gallon.