India's liquefied petroleum gas carrier Shivalik arrives at Mundra Port in Gujarat state in March, after passing through the Strait of Hormuz. [Reuters]
India's liquefied petroleum gas carrier Shivalik arrives at Mundra Port in Gujarat state in March, after passing through the Strait of Hormuz. [Reuters]

Global oil prices surged nearly 8% on Wednesday as the United States and Iran resumed military exchanges that had been suspended since July 24.

Brent crude futures for September delivery settled at $90.74 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange, up 7.9% from the previous session. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for September delivery closed at $84.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a gain of 6.6%.

Oil prices had fallen sharply after the US halted airstrikes on Iran following July 24, sliding through Wednesday. Prices snapped back after Iran resumed attacks on US military bases in the Middle East and American forces launched airstrikes targeting Iran-backed proxy forces in Iraq.

US Central Command said Wednesday that Iranian forces had fired ballistic missiles at US military bases in the Middle East.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement the same day that it had struck a US Air Force base and a central command post in Jordan with multiple ballistic missiles "in response to the aggressive actions of US forces." Later that day, US forces, alongside Saudi Arabia, struck bases belonging to Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq.

President Donald Trump, speaking to Fox News by phone that day, vowed a forceful response to Iran's surprise attack on the US military base in Jordan, saying, "We are going to beat the hell out of them."

Subhro Sarkar, head of energy at DBS Bank, said Brent crude prices were likely to oscillate between $80 and $100 a barrel in the near term "as the Middle East conflict alternates between de-escalation and escalation."


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