Oil prices surged on Monday after the United States and Iran traded attacks in an escalating standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, with Brent futures jumping more than 4 percent to $79.26 a barrel.
Oil prices have jumped amid the latest outbreak of hostilities between the United States and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, with Brent crude, the main international benchmark, rising more than 4 percent on Monday as the two nations traded attacks in their escalating standoff over control of the critical waterway .
Brent futures for September delivery stood at $79.26 a barrel as of 05:00 GMT, the highest since June 22 .
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The US Central Command said on Sunday that it had carried out dozens of strikes on Iran to degrade its ability to attack vessels in the strait, hours after striking hundreds of targets in the country . US forces launched the earlier round of strikes after accusing Iranian forces of “blatantly” attacking a Cyprus-flagged container ship, the MV GFS Galaxy, as it was transiting the strait.
The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime corridor for global trade. Iran does not control it,” CENTCOM said in a statement late on Sunday. US forces are postured and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available to commercial shipping despite Iran’s continued unwarranted aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations.
Iranian forces on Sunday launched a wave of missile and drone attacks against the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain in response to the US strikes .
According to a report by Accra Street Journal, maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has declined sharply amid renewed fighting. Just six vessels were tracked crossing the strait between 18:00 GMT on Thursday and 06:00 GMT on Friday, compared with 18-22 daily crossings earlier this month, according to maritime intelligence platform Windward.
Oil prices, which had returned to pre-conflict levels following the signing of a memorandum of understanding on ending the war last month, are now about 9 percent higher than before the US and Israel launched their initial strikes on Iran in late February.
Mukesh Sahdev, founder and chief oil analyst at XAnalysts in Sydney, said he expects the per-barrel price of Brent to remain in the upper $70s during August and September amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty. “There could be occasional spikes and dips outside that range,” Sahdev said in a note to clients .
Fabien Yip, a market analyst at IG in Sydney, said prices are unlikely to approach the much higher levels seen earlier in the war despite the latest turmoil. Near-term, the risk premium should keep prices supported, though a repeat of the earlier spike appears unlikely, as demand remains slow to recover while stranded-tanker releases and OPEC+ output quota expansion continue to add barrels to an already oversupplied outlook,” Yip said in a note to clients .
Major Asian stock markets fell on Monday amid the renewed fighting in the Middle East. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell more than 2 percent in afternoon trading, while South Korea’s Kospi plunged more than 8 percent .
Source: Accra Street Journal
Last Updated on July 13, 2026 by Samuel Kwame Boadu
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Samuel Kwame Boadu is a Ghanaian media entrepreneur and storyteller with a passion for amplifying urban voices and uncovering everyday truths. He is the Editor-in-Chief and Founder of Accra Street Journal, a dynamic digital platform dedicated to capturing the pulse of Ghana’s capital—its people, culture, challenges, business, sports and innovations.
