A motorboat and an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, on February 25, 2026. FADEL SENNA/AFP
American and Israeli airstrikes on Iran on the morning of Saturday, February 28, have reignited fears about the oil market. Even before the strikes, on Friday, ahead of the markets' weekend trading close, oil prices had already climbed to their highest levels in the past six months. The Brent crude price, the European benchmark rate, reached $73 a barrel (€62), up more than 2% in a single day. The same trend was seen with West Texas Intermediate, the United States benchmark, which rose to over $67 a barrel.
The anxiety seen on the oil markets reflected, above all, the influence wielded by Iran and, by extension, the Persian Gulf, in the global supply of "black gold." At midday on Saturday, it was still unclear to what extent Iran's oil infrastructure had been affected by the strikes.
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Israel and the US attack Iran: What happened in the first hours of bombing
