Oil continued its recent surge on Sunday, hitting $100 a barrel for the first time since July 2022 as the sharp fallout from America’s war on Iran continues to affect global markets.
US crude oil futures rose as much as 20% to around $109 a barrel, while Brent, the international benchmark, jumped more than 15% to $107 a barrel.
In addition to the rise in oil, S&P 500 futures fell 1.5%, Dow futures fell 900 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 1.2%, indicating that US stocks were poised to continue their decline last week.
Oil rose again after hitting a record 35% last week. In addition to the increase in oil prices, US gasoline prices have also increased, reaching a national average of more than $3,450 per liter.
The last time oil and gas prices rose to such levels was after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The war continues to batter the oil infrastructure and pressure refiners to cut production. Kuwait’s state oil company said it was cutting production, while the state-owned oil company of the United Arab Emirates said it was “controlling” some output, hinting at possible production cuts.
Kuwait and the UAE are both ranked in the top five oil producing countries in OPEC. Iraq, OPEC’s No. 2 oil producer, has already significantly cut its production last week, according to multiple reports.
The Strait of Hormuz, south of Iran, remains inaccessible to many oil and liquefied natural gas tankers as they try to reach the world market.
Each $1 increase in crude oil futures is typically associated with an increase of about 2.5 cents in the price of gasoline.
Consumers are starting to see prices rise at their local stations, and at least one analyst is predicting that prices will rise even further. “I now estimate the chance of the national average reaching $4/gal next month is now 80%,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan told X.
This year, the price of US crude oil has increased more than 80% as the Trump administration has increased its rhetoric against the Iranian regime, even before it struck the country and killed its supreme leader.
President Donald Trump has again dismissed concerns about rising oil and gas prices since the war began, telling Reuters on Friday that “I don’t have a problem with it” and adding that prices “will go down very quickly once this is over, and if they go up, they will go up, but this is more important than gas prices going up a little bit.”
Trump said Sunday on Truth Social that the tariffs are “a very small price to pay for USA, and World, Safety and Peace.”
On Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., suggested that the administration should use the national strategic fuel storage facility.
“The Strategic Petroleum Reserve exists for a period just like this,” Schumer said in a written statement. “When wars and global crises disrupt energy markets, the United States has the power to act, but President Trump and his administration refuse to do so.”
