Oil prices topped $100 a barrel again on Sunday after President Donald Trump said the US would blockade “any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” threatening to further disrupt oil flows.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 8%, at about $102. US crude was up 8% to $104.
Dow futures sank 1.04%, or 502 points. S&P 500 futures were down 1%, and Nasdaq futures declined 1.15%.
“We’re not going to let Iran make money on selling oil to people that they like and not people that they don’t like, or whatever it is. It’s going to be all or none,” Trump said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Oil prices remain lower than their recent highs reached last week before President Donald Trump called off his threat of mass devastation in Iran and agreed to ceasefire discussions.
But with a failure to reach a lasting ceasefire agreement and the clock ticking down to yet another deadline, oil prices are now trading higher than where they settled on April 1 – another key date. That was just before Trump’s disastrous primetime address in which he failed to detail an exit strategy for the war.
Iran has benefited financially from the war, charing up to $2 million per ship in tolls for passage through the crucial strait. Trump similarly floated the idea of tolls last week as a “joint venture” with Iran.
The country has also managed to export an average of 1.85 million barrels of crude a day through March — about 100,000 barrels a day more than in the previous three months, according to data and analytics firm Kpler.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned on Sunday that any military vessels approaching the strait “will be dealt with harshly and decisively,” according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News.
The blockade is expected to take effect at 10 a.m. ET on Monday, according to US Central Command.
Trump’s plan risks costing Americans more: If oil prices climb higher, gas prices will remain elevated. A gallon of gas in the US cost $4.12 on average Sunday, up 38% from the start of the war despite declining slightly over the weekend.
“It could be a long time from now” before the war ends and oil prices come down, Karen Young, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told CNN on Sunday.
High oil costs will also affect food prices, Young said, as materials used for fertilizer and creating food packaging are affected by supply chain disruptions.
“We’re going to start seeing that inflationary pressure … think about everything you buy at a retail, big-box store,” she said.
