Brent crude reaches $100 for first time since July as US strikes Iranian tankers, Tehran retaliates and Houthi attacks disrupt Saudi energy sitesynet| Related TopicsOil prices continued to climb Wednesday, with Brent crude reaching $100 a barrel for the first time since July as escalating fighting between Iran, the United States and its regional allies fueled concerns about energy supplies.U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude was trading at about $94 a barrel.(Photo: Shutterstock, PNGTree)The latest surge came as the conflagration in the Middle East intensified. Over the past day, the United States destroyed five Iranian oil tankers, prompting Iran to retaliate by attacking U.S. forces in Jordan.The strikes marked the latest stage in a sharp escalation that began over the weekend, when U.S. forces attacked three other Iranian oil tankers after Iran attempted to strike American warships.U.S. Central Command said its forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers in the latest operation. Four were destroyed in the Gulf of Oman, while a fifth was struck near Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub. Central Command later posted footage on social media that it said showed one of the tankers sinking after the strike.Iran responded to the destruction of its tankers by launching an attack on U.S. forces in Jordan.Jordan’s military said 20 ballistic missiles were fired from Iran. It said 18 were intercepted and destroyed, while the remaining two landed in uninhabited areas. No casualties were reported.Iran claimed it had attacked a Jordanian air base and also targeted two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers in retaliation for the sinking of its tankers. Those claims have not been independently verified.The exchange added to concerns that the widening conflict could threaten oil production and shipping routes across the region, which contains some of the world’s most important energy infrastructure.The United States disputed Iran’s characterization of the incident, saying the autonomous underwater vehicle had suffered a malfunction more than a day earlier.U.S. officials said it was an older model that had not been collecting sensitive intelligence and was not carrying classified sonar or radar equipment.Oil prices had already been rising before the latest U.S.-Iran escalation after Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia on Tuesday forced the kingdom to suspend operations at several energy facilities.Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry confirmed that fires had broken out at several sites. Specialized emergency crews were working to extinguish the fires and assess the damage, the ministry said.The combination of attacks on Iranian oil tankers, Iranian retaliation and disruptions at Saudi energy facilities has heightened fears about the security of regional energy supplies, helping push Brent crude back to the $100-a-barrel threshold.Comments