Oil Prices Jump to One-Month High as Trump Floats Hormuz Shipping Toll

Fighting between the U.S. and Iran has traders bracing for disruption in a chokepoint that carries roughly a fifth of the world's oil

Oil prices climbed to their highest level in a month Tuesday as fighting between the United States and Iran stoked fears of disruption to tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Al Jazeera and CNBC. Brent crude neared $85 a barrel, and prices gained more than 2% in a single session this week.

The rally reflects growing anxiety among traders that the narrow waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula, through which a large share of the world's seaborne oil passes, could become a battleground as U.S. strikes on Iran continue into a third night.

Adding to the uncertainty, President Donald Trump has proposed imposing a 20% fee on cargo passing through the strait, a plan CNBC reported is threatening to upend the global oil supply outlook just as markets had expected a surplus this year. Trump has argued that wealthy Gulf nations should help cover the cost of U.S. protection for shipping lanes in the region. "I want to be reimbursed because we're protecting a very rich portion of the world," Trump said, according to Washington Examiner and The Hill.

Any sustained disruption to Hormuz traffic would ripple quickly through American markets, where gasoline and diesel prices track global crude benchmarks closely. Roughly a fifth of the world's oil and a large volume of liquefied natural gas move through the strait, making it one of the most closely watched chokepoints in global energy trade.

Analysts are now weighing how long the standoff might last and whether shippers will reroute cargoes or absorb higher insurance and security costs, decisions that could keep upward pressure on prices in the weeks ahead.

— Compiled from reporting by Al Jazeera, CNBC, the Washington Examiner and The Hill.