Oil prices climb past $106 as Hormuz standstill chokes global energy flows
Oil prices extended gains at the start of the week as markets saw little prospect of a swift end to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that typically carries about one-fifth of the world’s oil.
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Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose as much as 3% on Sunday to top $106 a barrel before easing slightly. It traded at $104.63 as of 04:30 GMT Monday, up nearly 1.5%.
- Brent crude: $104.63 at 04:30 GMT, after briefly topping $106
- Flows through the Strait: no more than 5 ships daily vs. 138 historically
- Attacks on commercial vessels since Feb. 28: at least 16
- Global oil prices: up more than 40% since the war began
The latest upswing followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for allied navies to help Washington reopen the waterway. The appeal has so far drawn a muted response, with none of the countries he mentioned by name — including China, Japan, France and the U.K. — publicly committing to send ships.
In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, Trump warned NATO would face a “very bad” future if his proposal received “no response, or if it’s a negative response.” Japan and Australia on Monday both said they had no plans to deploy vessels to the region.
Iran has brought shipping in the strait to a standstill in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli strikes, a disruption the International Energy Agency has called the largest to global energy supplies in history. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said no more than five ships have passed through the corridor each day since the war started on Feb. 28, far below the historical average of 138 daily transits. At least 16 commercial vessels have been attacked in the region over the same period, UKMTO said.
The squeeze on flows through the Strait of Hormuz — bordered by Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates — has rippled through fuel markets worldwide, pushing pump prices higher and stoking concerns about a broader economic slowdown. Global oil prices have climbed more than 40% since fighting erupted, intensifying inflation pressures that many economies had only recently begun to tame.
Trump has repeatedly said he is willing to deploy the U.S. Navy to escort commercial shipping through the strait if needed. Administration officials have indicated that warships will not enter the waterway until Tehran’s military capacity has been further degraded, but said they expect such operations to begin soon.
For now, traders are pricing in a protracted disruption. Each day the strait remains largely closed deepens supply uncertainty for Asian importers — notably Japan, South Korea and China — and complicates refiners’ plans as they scramble for alternative barrels. A prolonged shortfall could force deeper draws from storage, reroute tankers over longer, costlier paths, and extend the rally across refined products.
Further price direction this week will hinge on signs of any coordinated naval security effort and whether transits through Hormuz begin to recover. In the absence of clear progress on either front, the market’s bias remains to the upside.
A sign at a gas station shows the price of gasoline in Tokyo on March 14, 2026. (Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP)
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
