Oil prices surged to the $100 mark early Wednesday as tensions between the United States and Iran escalated following fresh attacks on Iranian crude carriers and U.S. forces in Jordan. The latest escalation came after U.S. forces destroyed five more Iranian crude oil tankers, while Iran targeted U.S. forces in Jordan. These attacks followed a series of strikes that began over the weekend, when U.S. forces hit three other oil tankers after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted two U.S. warships. As of press time, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was trading at $95.73 a barrel, while Brent crude stood at $100.77. The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said late Tuesday that American forces had destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers, describing the action as a response to an IRGC attack on a U.S. Navy warship using ballistic missiles.
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