Brent Crude Nears $100 Amid Iran’s Ballistic Missile Strikes on Jordan

Crude oil prices extended gains for the fourth straight day on Wednesday, rising more than $1 in early trading after Iran launched new ballistic missile strikes targeting Jordan.

Price Gains and Market Movement

Front-month Brent crude futures surged $1.57, or 1.6%, to $99.49 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) climbed $1.60, or 1.72%, to $94.63 a barrel, according to Reuters.

Since early August, Brent has jumped nearly 25%, as prospects for a durable resolution to the six-month-old conflict between the United States and Iran have faded and fighting has reignited.

Iranian Missile Attack on Jordan

The Jordan News Agency, citing the Jordanian Armed Forces, reported that Jordanian air defense systems engaged 20 Iranian ballistic missiles. Eighteen were successfully intercepted and destroyed; the remaining two landed in uninhabited areas, causing no human casualties.

U.S. Response and Escalating Naval Actions

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Tehran that the United States would continue striking Iranian oil tankers in retaliation for attempts to attack American warships.

Rubio told reporters during a visit to Colombia: “Iran continues its attempts to strike U.S. naval vessels, and each time it does so—or attempts to do so—it will lose oil tankers.”

The U.S. Central Command confirmed on Tuesday that American forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers on September 8, following Iranian ballistic missile attempts over the preceding two days to strike a U.S. Navy warship.

U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve at Historic Low

U.S. Department of Energy data showed that crude oil stocks in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by approximately 1.2 million barrels last week, reaching 285.4 million barrels—the lowest level since November 1982.