Oil jumped to its priciest level in six weeks Monday after US-Iran hostilities over the weekend. Brent crude climbed 1.5% to $97.73 a barrel, briefly nearing $98, while West Texas Intermediate rose 1.8% to $93.10—both peaks not seen since late July, CNBC reports.The moves follow US strikes on three Iranian oil tankers after Iran fired ballistic missiles at two Navy warships, according to US Central Command, which called the vessels part of a “multibillion-dollar shadow network” funding Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Iran condemned the attacks on its commercial ships as a “war crime” and “economic warfare,” with its parliament speaker warning, “Strike our assets and you get struck.” A reported attack on a Saudi Aramco facility added to jitters. Sources told the Financial Times that a Red Sea refining hub was hit Monday in a suspected Houthi rebel attack. Gas prices in the US, meanwhile, hit a Labor Day record. The American Automobile Association said the average price hit $4.14 a gallon, up more than a dollar from this time last year and well above the previous Labor Day record of $3.82, set in 2012, the AP reports.