1 of 2 | The price of oil again climbed over the $100-per-barrel threshold on Monday after President Donald Trump announced U.S. forces will form a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
The price of oil again climbed over the $100-per-barrel threshold on Monday after President Donald Trump announced U.S. forces will form a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude oil increased by 7% to $102 and West Texas crude was up 7.8% to $104 per barrel on Monday morning. U.S. stocks opened down as much as 1%.
The price of a gallon of gas in the United States is $4.15 on average, $0.93 higher than a year ago. Diesel is averaging $5.68 per gallon, $2.06 more than a year ago.
Trump announced the blockade over the weekend after negotiations with Iran, led by Vice President JD Vance, failed.
U.S. Central Command said on Sunday that naval forces will blockade “all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports,” beginning Monday at 10 a.m. EST.
“CENTCOM forces will not impede the freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports,” U.S. CENTCOM said in a statement.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s speaker of parliament, posted on social media that the U.S. blockade will make Americans “nostalgic for $4-$5 gas.”
Seaborne traffic on the Strait of Hormuz has been largely halted since the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. Last week, Trump announced a cease-fire agreement had been made to open the strait but the ease on the oil trade was short-lived.
This week in Washington
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon on Wednesday. Yesterday, the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, with the U.S. suspending bombing in Iran for two weeks if the country reopens the Straight of Hormuz. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
