Brent crude top $106 a barrel as markets see no end in sight to halt of traffic through critical waterway.
Published On 16 Mar 2026
Oil prices are continuing to rise as markets see no end in sight to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude, the most important benchmark for global prices, rose as much as 3 percent on Sunday to top $106 a barrel, before easing somewhat early on Monday.
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Brent stood at $104.15 a barrel as of 2:00 GMT, up 1 percent.
The latest rise came after US President Donald Trump called on other countries to help Washington to reopen the Strait, which usually transports about one-fifth of the global oil supply.
Trump’s proposal has received a muted response so far, with none of the countries he appealed to by name – including China, Japan, France and the UK – publicly committing to deploying their navies to the critical waterway.
In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, Trump said that NATO would face a “very bad” future if his proposal received “no response or if it’s a negative response.”
Iran has brought shipping in the Strait to a standstill in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes on the country, resulting in what the International Energy Agency has called the largest disruption to global energy supplies in history.
Global oil prices have risen more than 40 percent since the start of the war, pushing up fuel prices and raising fears of a slowdown in the global economy.
According to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre, no more than five ships have passed through the Strait each day since the start of the war, compared with an historical average of 138 daily transits.
At least 16 commercial vessels have been attacked in the region since the war began on February 28, according to the UKMTO.
Trump has repeatedly said that he is willing to deploy the US Navy to escort commercial shipping through the Strait, which is bordered by Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, if necessary.
Administration officials have said that it is currently not safe to deploy warships to the Strait due to the threat of Iranian attacks, but that they expect such operations to begin soon.