Crude oil rockets past $100 as markets lose hope for a quick resolution in Iran

From NPR.

The war with Iran continued to escalate over the weekend.

A source tells NPR that U.S. officials were displeased after Israeli airstrikes hit an oil depot and a refinery in Tehran, sending fiery pillars and black smoke into the sky and causing oily raindrops to fall onto the city. It’s the first time in the war Israel has openly attacked civilian “industrial infrastructure” in Iran.

The war has also pushed global crude oil prices past $100 per barrel for the first time in four years.

The Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for the oil trade, remains effectively closed. The U.S. government has offered shipowners insurance and naval escorts for the passage, but the money available would only cover a fraction of the need, and companies are wary of risking ships and the lives of their crew — and the past week has caused traders to lose hope for a quick resolution to the conflict.

An analyst with the app GasBuddy says the average price of gasoline in the U.S. is likely to hit $4 this week.

It was under $3 before the war began.