Brent Crude Surges Past $95 as U.S.-Iran Escalation Threatens Key Shipping Lanes

For the twelfth consecutive night, American warplanes struck Iranian military installations, and the world's oil markets answered with the only language they know — price. Brent crude climbed to its highest point in six weeks, not because supply had changed, but because the sea lanes that carry a quarter of the world's oil had become contested territory. When the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea are no longer reliably open, no inventory surplus can quiet the fear of what might not arrive.