Oil prices surge above $100 as US Navy to blockade Iran’s ports after peace talks fail

Oil futures were at over $100 per barrel in the wake of President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. military would start blockading ships looking to enter the Strait of Hormuz.

Prices of U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude hovered just above $104 per barrel late Sunday night, with Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, prices sitting at just above $102 per barrel at the same time. Last Friday, West Texas Intermediate closed at $96.57 per barrel and Brent closed at $95.20.

On Sunday, Trump announced that the U.S. military would start blockading ships looking to enter the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for the oil industry that has been essentially closed since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli conflict against Iran.

“Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said on Truth Social.

U.S. Central Command (Centcom) on Sunday said it would start blockading Iranian ports at 10:00 a.m. EDT Monday or 5:30 p.m. in Iran.

Trump said in a Fox News interview on Sunday that the prices of oil and gas could drop, stay even or go “maybe a little higher” by this year’s midterm elections.

“So, do you believe the price of oil and gas will be lower before the midterm elections?” Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo asked Trump in the interview.

“I hope so. I mean, I think so, it could be, it could be, or the same or maybe a little bit higher, but it should be around the same,” Trump responded.